Oil falls more than two percent on signs of higher output

Oil falls more than two percent on signs of higher output
# 03 October 2017 03:23 (UTC +04:00)

Oil fell more than $1 a barrel on Monday as a rise in U.S. drilling and higher OPEC output put the brakes on a rally that helped prices notch their biggest third-quarter gain in 13 years, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Iraq announced its exports rose slightly in September while a Reuters survey showed OPEC overall boosted output. [OPEC/M]

U.S. drillers added six oil rigs in the week to Sept. 29, bringing the total count to 750, data from General Electric Co’s Baker Hughes energy services firm showed on Friday.

“We’ve seen them add rigs for the first time in seven weeks, so that changes sentiment as well,” said John Tjornehoj, energy market analyst at CHS Hedging.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, settled down 67 cents or 1.2 percent to $56.12 a barrel. It had notched a third-quarter gain of about 20 percent, the biggest increase for that quarter since 2004, and traded as high as $59.49 last week.

U.S. crude closed down $1.09 or 2.1 percent to $50.58. The U.S. benchmark posted its strongest quarterly gain since the second quarter of 2016.

Oil prices climbed last week on tension in Iraqi Kurdistan after the region’s independence vote.

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