Crude were higher in Asian hours on Monday, with traders preparing for an OPEC meeting later this month in order to assess the ongoing output reduction plan.
The US West Texas Intermediate oil futures traded at $44.46 a barrel, up 0.07 percent from its prior close. Meanwhile, the London based Brent crude oil futures added 0.09 percent to trade at $46.75 a barrel as of 07:40 GMT.
Ahead in the week, important releases will be US stockpiles from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday and the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. Also, attention will be directed to Friday’s Baker Hughes oil rig count.
Crude benchmarks settled in red territory on Friday as concerns that the OPEC led output cuts won’t be able to counteract the expanding supply overhang. The WTI was down 3.9 percent and the Brent 4.2 percent on weekly basis.
Oilfield services provider Baker Hughes said on Friday that US drillers added seven rigs in the week ended July 7, leaving the total count at 763 units.
Last week, investors were cheered by the report of the US Energy Information Administration, which showed reserves falling 6.3 million barrels, against a forecasted drop of 2.3 million barrels.
