Investing.com - Crude dipped in Asia on Monday with weekly supply data in focus as well the lingering effects of a short strike by oil workers in Kuwait.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in May eased 1.37% to $43.13 a barrel. Brent crude dropped 1.00% to $44.62 a barrel.
In the week ahead, Tuesday’s supply data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute will be in focus ahead of Wednesday’s weekly government report on stockpiles. Markets in Australia are closed for the Anzac day holiday.
Last week, oil prices rose on Friday, notching up a third successive week of gains as concerns about a global supply glut eased, bolstering investor sentiment.
Global benchmark Brent settled up 1.35% or 60 cents at $45.13 a barrel. It ended the week up 4.71%. Disruptions to supply from an oil worker strike in Kuwait early in the week helped prop up prices after the weekend’s failed negotiations between major producers on an output freeze intended to rein in ballooning overproduction and shore up prices.
The strike has since been settled. Prices continued to be underpinned after the International Energy Agency said Thursday it expects the oil market to rebalance from oversupply by next year, provided there is no major economic downturn.
IEA chief Fatih Birol said 2016 would see the biggest decline in non-OPEC oil supply in the last 25 years, which will help the market to come back into balance from oversupply.
Also Thursday, an official from OPEC said it will discuss freezing oil production at its next meeting in June.
But analysts have cautioned that freezing production near current levels is unlikely to reduce the global supply glut.
On Friday, oil services company Baker Hughes said the number of U.S. oil drilling rigs, viewed as a proxy for activity in the sector, fell for the fifth straight week to the lowest level since November 2009.