As the world's two largest oil producers, Saudi Arabia and Russia have led the 24-country OPEC/non-OPEC coalition in its 1.8 million b/d supply cut, which is scheduled to end in March.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $50.16 per barrel at 0648 GMT, down 26 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last close. They fell below $50 per barrel earlier in the session. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 22 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $55.78 a barrel.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down 12 cents at $56.67 a barrel at 0846 GMT. It notched up a third-quarter gain of around 20 percent, the biggest third-quarter increase since 2004 and traded as high as $59.49 last week. U.S. crude was down 17 cents at $51.50. The U.S. benchmark posted its strongest quarterly gain since the second quarter of 2016.

U.S. crude CLc1 was down 8 cents at $51.48 a barrel at 0641 GMT, after earlier rising slightly. Still, the contract is heading for a fourth consecutively weekly gain and is on track for a 9 percent advance this month. Brent LCOc1 rose 1 cent to $57.42 a barrel, heading for a fifth weekly climb and a nearly 10 percent gain for September.

Brent November crude futures were down 14 cents at $58.30 a barrel at 0832 GMT, while U.S. crude for November delivery edged up 11 cents to $51.99.

We expect global demand to increase by nearly 16 million barrels a day until 2040 – at which time it could reach around 111 million barrels a day. A remarkable 70% of this growth is forecast to come from emerging and developing economies in Asia.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and several other producers have cut production by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) since the start of 2017, helping lift oil prices by about 15 percent in the past three months.

International benchmark Brent crude futures were at $56.51 a barrel at 0644 GMT, up 8 cents, or 0.14 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 12 cents, or 0.24 percent, at $50.67 per barrel.

Chinese oil refineries are gearing up to receive more Russian oil transported through an expanded Siberian pipeline network from January, likely cementing Russia’s position as China’s largest oil supplier in a close race with Saudi Arabia.

The October light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 2¢ to settle at $49.91/bbl on Sept. 18. The November contract dropped 9¢ to settle at $50.35/bbl. The NYMEX natural gas price for October rose 12¢ to $3.14/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price climbed by 11¢ to $3.10/MMbtu. Heating oil for October fell nearly 2¢ to a rounded $1.78/gal. The NYMEX reformulated gasoline blendstock for October was up less than 1¢ to $1.67/gal on Sept. 18. The Brent crude contract for November on London’s ICE fell 14¢ to $55.48/bbl. The December contract declined 17¢ to $55.25/bbl. The gas oil contract for October was $525/tonne, down $9.75. OPEC’s basket of crudes for Sept. 18 was $53.78/bbl, up 14¢.