Oil fell toward $49 a barrel on Monday, pressured by high output from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and as a stronger U.S. dollar weighed on commodities.
Brent crude was 62 cents lower at $49.30 a barrel. The global benchmark is down more than 6% from its 2016 peak of $52.86 reached on June 9. US crude was down 60 cents at $47.04, Reuters reported.
Iraq, which has exported more crude from its southern ports in August, will continue ramping up output, its oil minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said on Saturday.
Top exporter Saudi Arabia has kept output at around record levels this month.
The comments about high oil output have dampened expectations that OPEC and outside producers such as Russia will agree steps next month to support prices such as a production freeze, following the collapse of a similar effort in April.
“The market is increasingly likely to discount the outcome of the event, given, even in the instance of a freeze being agreed, compliance will be an issue,” Barclays said in a report.
OPEC members are due to meet informally in Algeria on September 26-28 on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum. Russia is also expected to attend the IEF.
Oil prices are less than half their level of mid-2014 because of a persistent supply glut. The chief executive of US oil company ConocoPhillips, Ryan Lance, said at an industry conference in Stavanger, Norway, that he believed oversupply would extend into 2017. A strong dollar also weighed on oil, traders said. The US currency rose to a three-week high against the yen on Monday after the Federal Reserve bolstered expectations that it would increase interest rates soon.
