Investing.com - Crude oil prices gained in Asia on Monday, carrying gains from last week as investors increasingly expect an OPEC-led effort to curb oil output to be extended to the end of 2018.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 0.15% to $53.98 a barrel, while Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., added 0.07% to $60.17 a barrel.
Last week, oil prices rallied on Friday, lifting the U.S. benchmark to its highest finish in nearly eight months and sending the global crude benchmark above $60 a barrel for the first time in more than two years amid expectations that major global producers will extend a deal to curb production beyond its current expiry date next March.
The fog has been cleared ahead of OPEC's next policy meeting by Saudi Arabia and Russia declaring their support for extending a global deal to cut oil supplies for another nine months, OPEC's secretary general said on Friday.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman said earlier in the week he was in favor of extending the term of the agreement for nine months, following on from similar remarks by Russian made by President Vladimir Putin at the start of October.
Under the original terms of the deal, OPEC and 10 other non-OPEC countries led by Russia agreed to cut production by 1.8 million barrels a day (bpd) for six months. The agreement was extended in May of this year for a period of nine more months until March 2018 in a bid to reduce global oil inventories and support oil prices.
Discussions are continuing in the run-up to the Nov. 30 meeting, which oil ministers from OPEC and the participating non-OPEC countries will attend.
Rising U.S. crude production remains an issue for OPEC as it strives to clear a global supply overhang.
Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes said Friday that its weekly count of oil rigs operating in the U.S. rose by one to 737, snapping three consecutive weeks of declines.
The weekly rig count is an important barometer for the drilling industry and serves as a proxy for domestic oil production.