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NEW YORK, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices tumbled more than 2 percent on Friday as the market has rising concerns over persisting global oil over-supply.
Latest data suggested a recent global trend of over-supply and analysts said it is likely that the oil prices will stay at current level in the next few weeks.
The Oilfield services company Baker Hughes said Friday that the North American rig count is up 21 to 744 this week. The company reported earlier this week that the worldwide rig count for October this year was 1,620, up 36 from the 1,584 counted in September.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) crude production increased by 240,000 barrels to 33.64 million barrels per day in October compared to the figure registered in September, according to OPEC's monthly report released on Friday.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday raised its forecast of oil output from countries outside the OPEC next year. It said non-OPEC nations will see a production growth of nearly 500,000 barrels a day, an increase of 110,000 from the agency's estimate last month.
The West Texas Intermediate for December Delivery lost 1.25 U.S. dollars to settle at 43.41 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery erased 1.09 U.S. dollars to close at 44.75 U.S. dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
