Crude oil prices turned lower in mid-morning Tuesday as volatility continued following selloffs earlier this week, with an early bounce giving way to renewed bearishness.

WTI front-month crude futures traded at $61.29, or 1.5 percent lower, as of 11:30 a.m. EST, while Brent futures traded at $71.58 per barrel, or 0.8 percent lower, at the same time. WTI had traded at $62.28 per barrel just an hour earlier. Brent futures had traded at $72.52 per barrel an hour earlier.

"Traders began focusing on defending the Bear Line in the sand at $61.20 per barrel," John Thorpe, a commodity broker at Cannon Trading, told UPI.

"The EIA sees 2018 domestic crude production at 10.9 million barrels per day, up 1.5 percent from the October forecast. It also lifted its 2019 view on output by 2.6 percent to 12.06 million barrels a day," he added, referring to a report issued Tuesday that was having an impact in the market.

"The expectations for lower prices yet further, increase the argument for crude entering into a bear market," he said.

With prices seeing declines, there was speculation that producer nations may resort to production cuts.

According to the OPEC website, the organization has its 175th ordinary meeting scheduled for Dec. 6 in Vienna.

Representatives of some nations will meet on November 12-15 on the framework of ADIPEC, the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference.

Saudi Arabia in early October announced plans to increase production to cover from any potential supply disruption related to U.S.-nuclear sanctions against Iran, adding that other OPEC and non-OPEC governments would make efforts to maintain the market balance.

Selloffs since that date have resulted in large losses in crude oil prices. In addition, the United States on Monday announced waivers to several nations -- including big consumers China, India and South Korea -- so that they could continue temporarily to buy Iranian crude oil, extending market losses into this month.

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