U.S. oil futures fall by more than 2%; natural-gas futures end at more than 3-week high

Oil futures settled with a loss of more than 2% on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration reported a 4.3 million-barrel weekly climb in U.S. crude inventories and amid news that Iran may soon renew talks with world powers on a nuclear deal. Iran's chief negotiator, Ali Bagheri, said Wednesday that Iran will return to nuclear discussions before the end of November, according to The Wall Street Journal. "If this leads to the eventual withdrawal of U.S. sanctions, Iranian oil exports will rise, ending the threat of a supply shortage that has been partly the reason behind the big oil rally," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at ThinkMarkets, in a market update. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery fell $1.99, or nearly 2.4%, to settle at $82.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural-gas prices, meanwhile, rallied, getting a boost from some forecasts for colder weather as the November contracts expired. November natural gas rose 32 cents, or 5.4%, to settle at $6.202 per million British thermal units, the highest in just over three weeks. The new front month December contract added 20 cents, or almost 3.3%, to $6.198 per million Btus.

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