Crude prices drop on ample supplies

Crude prices retreated Tuesday as traders thought global crude supplies surpassed demand.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will hold its next production meeting in Vienna of Austria on Nov. 27. The organization pumps a third of the world's crude production.

OPEC members have been divided on whether to cut output or not. Venezuela openly called for a cut and Iran hinted a need to reduce output.

Saudi Arabia, the top producer, however, is inclined to a price cut for market share instead of output cut. The economic recession of Japan, the world's third-largest oil consuming country, also weighed on crude prices.

Japan's Cabinet Office announced Monday that the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank an annualized 1.6 percent in the three months through September, in stark contrast to median economists' expectations for the economy to grow 2.2 percent.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery moved down 1.03 dollars to settle at 74.61 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery lost 84 cents to close at 78.47 dollars a barrel.