Crude oil prices settled lower Monday as worries grew concerning the growth of domestic oil production, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
March West Texas Intermediate crude fell 93 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $52.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
April Brent crude, the global benchmark, lost $1.11, or 2%, to end trading at $55.59 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Exchange.
According to a monthly report from the Energy Information Administration issued on Monday, crude oil production from seven major U.S. shale plays is forecast to climb by 80,000 barrels a day to 4.873 million barrels a day in March from February. Output from the Permian Basin is expected to see the largest climb, according to the report.
So far, OPEC has stuck to its agreement to cut production. OPEC’s monthly oil report showed that members delivered more than 90% of the production cuts last month as agreed late last year in an effort to rebalance the oil market. OPEC said oil production fell by 890,000 barrels a day in January compared with December, with Saudi Arabia the largest contributor to the output reduction.
Meanwhile, March natural gas ended at $2.944 per million British thermal units, down 9 cents, or 3%, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices settled under $3 for the first time since mid-November with forecasts for warmer temperatures in the eastern U.S. expected to dull demand for the heating fuel.