Investing.com - Crude oil prices held lower in early Asia on Monday with few cues from a weekend G7 finance policymakers meeting on global growth policies that could boost demand amid massive oversupply.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in July fell 0.54% to $48.15 a barrel. Brent crude dipped 0.33% to $48.56 a barrel
Last week, oil futures ended lower on Friday, but still posted a second consecutive week of gains amid mounting concerns over global supply disruptions.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for July delivery shed 9 cents, or 0.18%, to end the week at $48.72 a barrel. Despite Friday’s modest decline, London-traded Brent futures rose 92 cents, or 1.86%, on the week.
Brent futures prices are up by roughly 85% since briefly dropping below $30 a barrel in mid-February, despite the collapse of talks at a Doha summit in April aimed at achieving a production freeze among OPEC and Non-OPEC producers. OPEC meets on June 2 in Vienna and may discuss the freeze initiative again.
Oilfield services provider Baker Hughes said late Friday the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. was unchanged at 318 in the latest reporting week, after eight straight weeks of declines.
However, analysts warned that market conditions remained weak due to an ongoing glut. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, crude oil inventories unexpectedly rose by 1.31 million barrels last week to 541.3 million.
Meanwhile, Brent's premium to the West Texas Intermediate crude contract stood at 31 cents at Friday’s settlement, compared to a gap of 14 cents by close of trade on Thursday.
In the week ahead, oil traders will be focusing on U.S. stockpile data on Tuesday and Wednesday for fresh supply-and-demand signals.
Market players will also continue to monitor supply disruptions across the world for further indications on the rebalancing of the market.