Oil prices faltered Tuesday, giving up gains in earlier trading as investors weighed the possibility that OPEC will extend its production cuts again against the prospect of rising U.S. oil output at higher prices. U.S. crude futures fell 43 cents, or 0.86%, to $49.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after climbing as high as $50.42 in earlier trading. Brent, the global benchmark, fell 34 cents, or 0.61%, to $55.14 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. “We’re zigzagging in the range,” said Michael Hiley, a trader at LPS Futures. “We failed the highs from last week and are back down into the same range we’ve been in for three days.” Prices were buoyed in earlier trading by a weaker dollar and signals from Iraq’s oil minister that the country could be open to extending OPEC’s production-cut agreement through next year. But analysts and traders say that $50 […]