Crude oil futures declined at the beginning of the week, amid continuous concerns over a supply glut, especially in the United States, where inventories are still at record highs.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in April slumped 52 cents, or 1.01%, to trade at $50.30 a barrel during European morning hours.
Nymex oil plunged $1.02, or 1.97% on Friday, to end at $50.81 after data showed that the pace of falling rigs in the U.S. slowed last week, underlining concerns over a glut in supplies.
New York-traded oil futures dropped $2.69, or 5.33%, last week, the first weekly loss in four weeks.
On Friday Industry research group Baker Hughes said that the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. fell by just 37 last week, the smallest weekly drop this year and compared to a decline of 84 rigs in the preceding week.
The amount of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. totaled 1,019, the lowest since August 2011. The number of oil rigs has declined in 16 of the last 19 weeks since hitting an all-time high of 1,609 in mid-October.
at the same time,
government data indicated that oil supplies in the U.S. surged to the highest
level in at least 80 years last week, showing that cheap prices have
yet to affect output.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for April delivery dipped 45 cents, or 0.75%, to trade at $59.77 a barrel. The April Brent contract eased up 1 cent, or 0.02%, on Friday to settle at $60.22 a barrel. London-traded Brent declined $1.27, or 2.11%, last week, halting three straight weeks of gains.
Brent prices are up more than 11% in February as some investors bet that a bottom had been reached after a seven-month long rout. But prices are still down approximately 47% since June, when futures climbed near $116.
The spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $9.47 a barrel.
