Oil futures finished down on Monday as trading closed amid concern about an increase in production, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
July West Texas Intermediate crude had its lowest finish since June 3, dropping 19 cents, or 0.4%, to end trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $48.88 a barrel.
On London’s ICE Futures exchange, August Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 19 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $50.35 a barrel. Earlier in the day, Brent crude futures slid below $50 a barrel before finishing slightly up.
“The market since Thursday has taken this speculation as bearish, since the oversupplied global market will take longer to rebalance if U.S. shale production returns,” said Daniel Holder, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric.
OPEC released a monthly report on Monday indicating it expects global oil demand to increase by 1.2 million barrels a day this year to 94.18 million barrels a day, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
Meanwhile, July natural gas rose 2.9 cents, or 1.1% to settle at $2.585 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
