WTI and Brent Climb on Monday as Signs Point to Extension of OPEC Production Cut

Crude oil futures gained some ground and settled higher on Monday as producers remained confident that OPEC will extend its current agreement to curb production, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, June WTI crude, the U.S. benchmark, tacked on 21 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $46.43 a barrel.

On the London ICE Futures Exchange, July Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 24 cents, or 0.5%, to end trading at $49.34 a barrel.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Khalid Al-Falih reported at an oil and gas conference held in Kuala Lumpur that he’s confident the deal to limit production will be extended into the second half of the year and possibly longer. OPEC plans to decide whether to extend the production cut agreement at its next meeting in Vienna on May 25.

“As OPEC prepares to meet later this month to formalize a potential extension, expect U.S. oil production to continue charting steady gains,” said Robbie Fraser, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s monthly report on short-term energy outlook is due Tuesday.

Meanwhile, natural gas for June dropped 2.9% to settle at $3.172 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.