Investing.com - Crude oil futures were lower on Monday, as market sentiment remained subdued ahead of a meeting of Eurogroup finance ministers in Brussels later in the day, amid ongoing jitters over Greece's future in the euro zone.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in March fell 51 cents, or 0.97%, to trade at $52.27 a barrel during European morning hours. Prices hit a daily high of $53.69 earlier, the most since January 2.
On Friday, New York-traded oil futures surged $1.57, or 3.07%, to settle at $52.78 after Baker Hughes said that the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. fell by 84 last week to 1,056, the lowest since August 2011.
The number of oil rigs has declined in 15 of the last 18 weeks since hitting an all-time high of 1,609 in mid-October, a clear sign of the pressure that tumbling prices have put on oil producers.
New York-traded oil futures are up almost 15% over the past three weeks, however, prices are still down approximately 52% from a recent peak of $107.50 hit in June.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for April delivery slipped 57 cents, or 0.93%, to trade at $60.95 a barrel, after rising to a session high of $62.32, the strongest level since December 22.
The April Brent contract soared $2.24, or 3.78%, on Friday to settle at $61.52 a barrel.
London-traded Brent prices have sky-rocketed 21.7% over the past three weeks. However, prices are still down approximately 47% since June, when futures climbed near $116.
Oil prices have fallen sharply in recent months as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries resisted calls to cut output, while the U.S. pumped at the fastest pace in more than three decades, creating a glut in global supplies.
Meanwhile, officials from Greece and the European Union were due to hold fresh talks on Monday after discussions on a new debt deal last week ended without an agreement.
Greece’s current €240 billion bailout is due to expire on February 28 and the new Greek government does not want it extended, fuelling fears over a conflict with its creditors which could trigger the country’s exit from the euro zone.
On Sunday Athens said it was confident of reaching an agreement but reiterated it would not accept harsh austerity measures in any new deal.
In Japan, data on Monday showed that the economy emerged from recession in the final quarter of 2014, but growth was still weaker than expected, indicating that the recovery remain fragile.
Japan’s economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.2% in the three months to December official data showed, falling short of forecasts for 3.7%.