SINGAPORE: Oil prices dipped on Monday, extending last week’s losses on fresh worries about a global supply glut as more US rigs come back online and the dollar strengthens.
Both contracts sank Friday after a report showed the number of active US installations rose for a fourth straight week as firms are tempted to reopen them by the relatively higher prices.
However, the increase in production adds to an already painful oversupply crisis.
“Crude oil markets have been under pressure as oil supplies have started growing with the resumption of output from the capacity lost due to wildfires in the Canadian oil sands,” EY oil and gas head Sanjeev Gupta said in a note, referring to blazes that hit the country’s key oil fields.
Canada is the largest supplier of crude to the United States.
Gupta said media reports of increased production from Iraq have also added to market pressure.
At about 0300 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was down six cents at $44.13 a barrel and Brent was also six cents lower at $45.63.
Official US data last week showed that while crude supplies decreased, gasoline supplies remained high even during the crucial summer holiday driving season.
“The general tone for the market at the moment is soft to sideways,” Ric Spooner, a chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, told Bloomberg News.
