Crude oil futures ended slightly higher on Thursday recovering well after languishing in the red following an early setback. Oil prices fell sharply early on in the session, weighed down by recent data showing an increase in US crude inventories and the prospect of Iranian crude entering the market. Iran's nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Khan said that talks with world powers regarding efforts to revive Iran's nuclear deal will resume by the end of next month. A deal between Iran and world powers on the nuclear pact could result in the return of about 1.3 million b/d of Iranian oil to global exports markets. Besides, concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to rising coronavirus cases in China and fears of fresh lockdown measures in Russia also contributed to oil's decline earlier in the session.
Benchmark crude oil futures for December delivery rose $0.15 or about 0.2% to settle at $82.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. However, Brent crude for December delivery declined $0.26 or 0.31 percent to settle at $84.32 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.