WTI & Brent print $0.40 & $0.20 lower...........>

OIL: WTI & Brent print $0.40 & $0.20 lower respectively.

- Live Mint sources suggested that "China and India, the world's second and

third largest oil importers, respectively, are nearing an arrangement to form a

buyers' bloc to bargain collectively for oil supplies and reduce the influence

of the Saudi Arabia-led cartel on oil prices."

- Elsewhere, the WSJ noted that "the Trump administration's proposal to vastly

expand offshore oil and gas drilling has been sidelined indefinitely as the

Interior Department grapples with a recent court decision that blocks Arctic

drilling, according to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt."

- Crude settled lower on Thursday, with worry re: the impending ending of U.S.

sanction waivers pertaining to the importing of Iranian crude intensifying.

Thursday also saw loadings at Russia's Ust-Luga port halted owing to questions

surrounding the quality of the product.