Investing.com - Oil prices reversed earlier gains in North America trade on Monday, as hopes of a deal to curb one of the worst supply gluts in history continued to fade.
Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali al-Naimi discussed cooperation between OPEC members and other oil producers to stabilize the global oil market with his Venezuelan counterpart, Eulogio Del Pino, on Sunday, but it ended with few signs there would be steps taken to boost prices.
Crude oil for delivery in March on the New York Mercantile Exchange plunged to an intraday low of $29.57 a barrel, before battling back to $29.95 by 13:30GMT, or 8:30AM ET, down 94 cents, or 3.03%.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for April delivery dropped 77 cents, or 2.26%, to trade at $33.29 a barrel.
Meanwhile, Brent's premium to the West Texas Intermediate crude contract stood at $3.34, compared to a gap of $3.17 by close of trade on Friday.
Global crude production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil and after a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries last year not to cut production in order to defend market share. Oversupply issues will be exacerbated further as Iranian exports return to the global oil market.
In the week ahead investors will be looking ahead to supply data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s weekly government report on stockpiles.
The International Energy Agency and OPEC are also due to release their monthly reports on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.