After four consecutive sessions of gains that lifted prices to their highest levels since late September, crude oil futures dipped on Thursday, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
November West Texas Intermediate crude lost 75 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $51.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
December Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 92 cents, or 1.6%, to end trading at $57.23 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange.
“I think there’s a chance oil could fall closer to $40 than $50, because I think there’s still one more big surge coming from U.S., which will knock prices down,” said Ian Taylor, chief executive officer at Vitol Group, the world’s largest oil trader, pointing to $45 a barrel as his 2018 forecast.
David Knapp, chief energy economist at Energy Intelligence, said he believes that the U.S. shale sector has a “second peak coming.”
Meanwhile, November natural gas rose 0.7% to settle at $2.873 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.