a stronger dollar also put pressure on crude.
U.S. West
Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 fell 5 cents to $50.55 a barrel by 0012
GMT after settling 25 cents higher in the previous session.
International
benchmark Brent futures LCOc1 slipped 11 cents to $53.42 a barrel. The March
contract closed the previous session down 13 cents at $52.83 a barrel.
Both contracts
posted their worst quarterly loss since late 2015 in the March quarter. U.S.
futures fell nearly 6 percent from the previous quarter, while Brent lost 7
percent as rising inventory levels outpaced output cuts by OPEC and non-OPEC
members.
Crude oil
prices staged a three-day rally last week amid expectations members of the
Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-members such
as Russia would extend production cuts beyond June.
But prices
fell on Friday after energy services firm Baker Hughes said the U.S. rig count
increased by 10 to 662 last week, making the first quarter the strongest for
oil rig additions since mid-2011.
The U.S.
dollar index .DXY rose against a basket of currencies on Monday. A strong
dollar makes greenback-denominated commodities including oil more expensive for
holders of other currencies.
Iraq plans to
increase its oil output capacity to 5 million barrels per day before the end of
the year, but Baghdad has assured OPEC it will fully comply with the pact to
cut oil supply, Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi and OPEC Secretary General
Mohammed Barkindo said on Sunday.
Russian oil
shipped by state pipeline monopoly Transneft (TRNF_p.MM) to ports for export
rose to 2.944 million barrels per day (bpd) in March, or 12.452 million tonnes,
from 2.819 million bpd in February.
REUTERS
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