Oil prices fell on Monday as U.S. production hit a record high and OPEC members considered boosting supply.
The benchmark Brent crude oil lost $1.26 a barrel, or 1.6%, to a low of $75.53 before recovering to $75.89, down 90 cents, by 1125 GMT.
U.S. light crude was 40 cents down at 65.41 a barrel. The U.S. contract lost about 3% last week after a decline of nearly 5% the previous week.
‘Sea of red’
“A sea of red is washing over the energy complex as rising U.S. production coupled with a looming relaxation in OPEC-led cuts sends bulls scurrying for the exits,” said Stephen Brennock, analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.
U.S. crude production climbed in March to 10.47 million barrels per day (bpd), a monthly record, data from the Energy Information Administration showed last week.
U.S. drillers added two oil rigs in the week to June 1, bringing the total to 861, the most since March 2015, energy services company Baker Hughes said on Friday. That was the eighth time drillers have added rigs in the past nine weeks.
Arab oil ministers agreed over the weekend on the need for continued cooperation between members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other big producers to balance global supply, Kuwait's state news agency KUNA reported on Sunday. OPEC ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Algeria, along with their counterpart from non-OPEC Oman, met unofficially in Kuwait on Saturday.
June 22 meeting
OPEC meets formally on June 22 to set oil policy. It is expected to agree to raise output to cool the market amid worries over Iranian and Venezuelan supply and after Washington raised concerns that the oil rally was going too far, OPEC sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters last month.
Saudi Arabia, the effective OPEC leader, and Russia have discussed boosting output to compensate for supply losses from Venezuela and to address concerns about the impact of U.S. sanctions on Iranian output.
