Latest news – Oil prices are heading towards a weekly 10...

By 1219 GMT, Brent crude was down 31 cents, at $ 43.03 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 34 cents to $ 40.85 a barrel.

The two benchmarks are on track of achieving weekly gains of about 10 percent this week, the first rise in 3 weeks.

A Norwegian oil company and union officials said they would meet with a state-appointed mediator today in an effort that both sides hope will result in an end to the strike.

The escalation may triple the current disruption if no solution is found by October 14th, bringing the total production capacity reduction to about 934,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

In the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Delta shut down 1.67 million barrels per day, or 92 percent of the Gulf’s total oil production, the highest level since 2005 during Hurricane Katrina.

Producers have also halted about 62 percent of the region’s natural gas production, or the equivalent of 1.675 billion cubic feet per day.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) says, on Thursday, that global demand for oil will peak in the late 1930s and may start to decline by then.