NEW YORK, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices retreated on Thursday, erasing gains in the previous session as concerns over global supply glut and faltering global economy lingered.

Concerns over slowing global economic growth have dampened investor sentiment in riskier asset classes and pressured crude futures.

In addition, the global oil market is still grappling with rising stockpiles, despite a daily 1.2 million-barrel output cut deal between OPEC and its allies, which is set to come into force since January next year.

The potential effect of the production cut has been partly offset by a worrying forecast that the seven major U.S. shale basins' output was expected to hit 8.166 million barrels per day (bpd) in January 2019, with the biggest increase of 134,000 bpd since September.

Currently, the United States pumps 11.6 million bpd, surpassing Saudi Arabia and Russia to be the world's largest oil producer.

The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery declined 1.61 U.S. dollars to settle at 44.61 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery decreased 2.31 dollars to close at 52.16 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem

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