Crude prices may be up nearly 14% year to date, with the path of least resistance often appearing to be higher than lower. Yet day-to-day volatility is frustrating those eager to see an uninterrupted move in prices, just like the one enjoyed by oil bears through most of the last quarter. With OPEC's monthly report on Thursday reaffirming sharper-than-expected Saudi production cuts ahead of schedule, the market was still down more than 1%. WTI settled down 24 cents, or 0.5%, at $52.07 per barrel. Analysts attributed the slide to belated reaction over U.S. government data from the previous day showing domestic production almost near the long-forecast record of 12 million barrels per day that oil bulls thought would come later in the year. Crude got off to a powerful start for 2019 after OPEC cuts and Saudi whispers for $80 oil led to an impressive 25% gain within the first two weeks from the 18-month lows of $42.36 hit by WTI on Christmas Eve. While many thought that momentum would continue to help WTI reach $60 and recoup the 40% selloff the market saw in the fourth quarter, the gains eroded as new concerns emerged about an economic slowdown in China - the world's top oil importer. OPEC's monthly report on Thursday showed it jump-started the Dec. 7 agreement it reached with Russia to cut 1.2 million bpd in supply from the beginning of this year.