Brent touches 2-week lows after bearish comments from OPEC Secretary-General

On Monday Brent oil futures fell below $59 a barrel touching the lowest level in almost two weeks, as bearish comments from OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri weighed on the sentiment.

On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for April delivery hit an intraday low of $58.88 a barrel, a level not seen since February 25, before trading at $58.99 during European morning hours, down 83 cents, or 1.39%.

Speaking at the Middle East Oil and Gas conference on Sunday, OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries should not lower production to "subsidize" higher-cost shale.

On Friday, London-traded Brent prices dropped 75 cents, or 1.24%, to end at $59.73 as the U.S. dollar strengthened broadly following the release of upbeat U.S. employment data.

The U.S. economy added 295,000 jobs in February, far more than the 240,000 forecast by economists, the Labor Department reported.

The unemployment rate ticked down to 5.5% from 5.7% in January, the lowest since May 2008, while analysts had forecast the unemployment rate would fall to 5.6%. The solid jobs report fuelled expectations that the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates as early as June, strengthening the greenback. Dollar-denominated oil futures contracts are likely to decline when the dollar rises, as this makes oil more expensive for buyers in other currencies.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in April dipped 10 cents, or 0.19%, to trade at $49.53 a barrel. Nymex oil prices slumped $1.15, or 2.27%, on Friday to end the week at $49.61 a barrel.

On Friday industry research group Baker Hughes said that the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. fell by 63 last week to 923, the lowest since June 2011. Investors have been paying close attention to the shrinking rig count in recent months for signs it will eventually reduce the glut of crude flowing into the market.

At the same time, total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 444.4 million barrels as of last week, the most in at least 80 years, indicating that cheap prices have yet to affect output.

The spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $9.46 a barrel early on Monday, compared to $10.12 by close of trade on Friday.

On Sunday China reported a trade surplus of $60.6 billion in the January-February period, compared to expectations for a surplus of $10.8 billion and up from a surplus of $60.0 in January.

Exports surged 48.3% from a year earlier last month, above expectations for a 14.2% increase, while imports tumbled 20.5%, much worse than forecasts for a decline of 10.0%. The fall in imports pointed to persistent weakness in the economy, fuelling speculation policymakers will have to introduce further stimulus measures to boost growth.

The Asian nation is the world's second largest oil consumer after the U.S. and has been the engine of strengthening demand.