Investing.com - Oil prices were under pressure during North American morning hours on Monday, falling back toward the lowest level since the end of November as uncertainty over whether an OPEC-led production cut will be extended beyond June fed concerns about a global supply glut.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude May contract shed 77 cents, or around 1.6%, to $47.20 a barrel by 9:50AM ET (13:50GMT). The U.S. benchmark touched $47.01 on Wednesday last week, a level not seen since November 30.
Elsewhere, Brent oil for May delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London dipped 64 cents to $50.28 a barrel. The global benchmark hit $49.71 on Wednesday, its cheapest since November 30.
Data from oilfield services provider Baker Hughes on Friday revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by 21 last week, the tenth weekly increase in a row. That brought the total count to 652, the most since September 2015.
Oil has fallen sharply this month amid concern that the ongoing rebound in U.S. shale production could derail efforts by other major producers to rebalance global oil supply and demand.
OPEC agreed in November last year to curb its output by about 1.2 million barrels per day between January and June. Russia and 10 other non-OPEC producers have agreed to jointly cut by an additional 600,000 barrels per day.
In total, they agreed to reduce output by 1.8 million barrels per day to 32.5 million for the first six months of the year, but so far the move has had little impact on inventory levels.
A joint committee of ministers from OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers has agreed to review whether a global pact to limit supplies should be extended by six months once again in April, it said in a statement on Sunday.
The statement failed to impress investors, who were hoping for more concrete news on whether output curbs would be extended beyond June.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said it was still too early to say whether there would be an extension, although the agreement was working well and all countries were committed to 100% compliance.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for May inched down 1.3 cents, or 0.8%, to $1.602 a gallon, while May heating oil dropped 1.8 cents to $1.485 a gallon.