Investing.com - Crude oil futures extended sharp gains from the previous session on Monday, amid speculation productions cuts by drillers in the U.S and global oil companies will alleviate a glut in supplies.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in March rose by as much as 2.98%, or $1.59, to hit a session high of $53.28 a barrel, before trading at $51.82 during European morning hours, up 12 cents, or 0.24%.
On Friday, New York-traded oil futures surged $1.21, or 2.4%, to end at $51.69 a barrel.
New York-traded oil futures climbed $4.10, or 7.15%, last week, the second straight weekly gain and the biggest advance since February 2011, amid indications U.S. producers may be pulling back on new production in response to low prices.
Industry research group Baker Hughes said Friday that the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. fell by another 87 in the past week to 1,136, the lowest since December 2011.
The number of oil rigs has declined in 14 of the last 17 weeks since hitting an all-time high of 1,609 in mid-October.
West Texas Intermediate oil futures are up nearly 18% over the past two weeks, but prices are still down almost 52% from a recent peak of $107.50 hit in June.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for April delivery dipped 18 cents, or 0.31%, to trade at $58.50 a barrel, after rising by as much as $1.22, or 2.03%, to touch a daily high of $59.90.
London-traded Brent jumped $1.17, or 2.03%, on Friday to settle at $58.68.
The April Brent contract rallied $6.00, or 9.08%, last week, also the second consecutive weekly advance and the biggest increase since 2011, as some investors bet that a bottom had been reached after a seven-month long rout.
London-traded Brent prices sky-rocketed 17% over the past two weeks, the largest two-week gain since 1998. However, prices are still down approximately 50% 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.
Concerns over weakening demand mounted after dismal Chinese trade data raised concerns about a deepening slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.
Over the weekend, China reported a trade surplus of $60.0 billion in January, compared to expectations for $48.9 billion and up from a surplus of $49.6 in December.
Exports slumped 3.3% from a year earlier last month, missing expectations for a 6.3% increase, while imports tumbled 19.9%, much worse than forecasts for a decline of 3.0%.
According to the data, China's oil imports slid by 7.9% in January from a month earlier to 27.98 million tons.
The Asian nation is the world's second largest oil consumer after the U.S. and has been the engine of strengthening demand.
The dollar rallied after data on Friday showed that the U.S. economy added 257,000 jobs in January, far more than the 234,000 forecast by economists. December’s figure was revised to 329,000 from a previously reported 252,000.
While the unemployment rate ticked up to 5.7% last month from December’s 5.6% hourly earnings and the participation rate both saw increases in January.
The upbeat jobs report reinforced expectations for a mid-year rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
Meanwhile, the euro remained under pressure as concerns over Greek debt negotiations continued to weigh on market sentiment.
Greece after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Sunday that he would stick to plans to roll back austerity measures and reject an international bailout extension.
Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s downgraded Greece to one notch above default late Friday and warned that time is running out for Athens to reach an agreement on a new financing program with creditors.