Investing.com - Crude oil prices fell in Asia on Monday as investors booked profits as doubts grow that efforts by key producers to curb supply will result in significant impact on availability.
U.S. crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 0.41% to $50.64 a barrel.
Last week, oil futures reversed early losses to end higher on Friday, despite a stronger dollar after Russia’s energy minister said an oil output freeze agreement was necessary to help stabilize the market.
Global benchmark Brent futures on the Intercontinental Exchange ended at $51.61 a barrel.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak on Friday expressed interest in cooperating with an OPEC production cut and said that he would make proposals to his Saudi Arabian counterpart at a meeting of Gulf Arab oil ministers over the weekend.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries announced late last month that it has a preliminary plan to limit production to a range of 32.5 million to 33.0 million barrels per day.
OPEC is expected to complete details of the proposed production cut at its next official meeting on November 30, but without Russia’s participation the plan could fail.
Some analysts feel the pullback indicates that the recent oil price rally is unsustainable, with global production continuing to outpace demand. In the week ahead, oil traders will focus on U.S. stockpile data on Tuesday and Wednesday for fresh supply-and-demand signals.