Investing.com - Oil prices edged lower during European morning hours on Monday, starting the week off in negative territory amid concerns over rising production and swelling stockpiles in the U.S.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude April contract shed 46 cents, or around 0.9%, to $52.87 a barrel by 4:15AM ET (09:15GMT), after gaining 72 cents on Friday.
Elsewhere, Brent oil for May delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London dipped 44 cents to $55.46 a barrel after rising 82 cents in the prior session.
Concerns that the ongoing rebound in U.S. shale production could derail efforts by other major producers to rebalance global oil supply and demand pressured crude prices.
Data from oilfield services provider Baker Hughes on Friday revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by 7 last week, the seventh weekly increase in a row. That brought the total count to 609, the most since October 2015.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said that crude supplies rose by 1.5 million barrels last week to yet another all-time high of 520.2 million. It was the eighth straight weekly build in U.S. stockpiles, feeding concerns about a global glut.
Oil prices have been trading in a narrow $5 range around the mid-$50s over the past two months as sentiment in oil markets has been torn between rising stockpiles and increased shale production in the U.S. and hopes that oversupply may be curbed by output cuts announced by major global producers.
OPEC and non-OPEC countries have made a strong start to lowering their oil output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day by the end of June, with compliance currently at around 94%.
Oil traders will pay close attention to comments from global oil producers attending the annual CERAWeek Conference in Houston, Texas for further evidence that they are complying with their agreement to cut output.
'Big Oil' figures attending the week-long event include OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Mohammed Barkindo, the oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iraq, as well as executives from major oil companies such as Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and BP (LON:BP).
Barkindo told reporters on Sunday that OPEC will decide in May whether to extend its production deal with non-OPEC members. He added that a monitoring committee will meet on March 25.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for April shed 1.1 cents, or around 0.7%, to $1.637 a gallon, while April heating oil dipped 0.9 cents to $1.584 a gallon.
Natural gas futures for April delivery jumped 8.6 cents, or almost 3%, to $2.914 per million British thermal units, as forecasts showing slightly cooler weather on the way boosted the fuel.