Oil fell more than 1.5% a barrel on Thursday, weighed down by weakness in U.S. equities markets and an expectation that crude output would rise in the Gulf of Mexico following last week’s hurricane in the region.
Crude rose earlier in the session after Iran said it had seized a foreign tanker in the Gulf. Prices pulled back after it emerged that the vessel had only a small cargo and was detained on Sunday for fuel smuggling.
Prices were further weighed down after the U.S. equities market opened lower. The S&P 500 .SPX opened lower by 5.55 points, or 0.2%, at 2,978.87.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures were down 93 cents at $62.73 a barrel, after earlier touching a session high of $64.46.
West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 futures were down $1.01 a barrel at $55.77, after earlier rising to as much as $57.32 a barrel.
