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FILE PHOTO: A drilling rig of the Austrian oil and gas group OMV is seen on their exploratory drilling site near Maustrenk, Austria, on October 9, 2018. REUTERS / Leonhard Foeger / File Photo
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Oil prices fell slightly on Monday after the international Brent benchmark reached a new five-month high in the previous session, but worries about global supply limited the loss.
The Brent oil futures were at $ 71.40 per barrel at 00:15 GMT, down 15 cents or 0.2% from their last close. Brent closed up 1% on Friday as prices hit a high of $ 71.87 a barrel, its highest level since November 12th.
The WTI (West Texas Intermediate) futures price was $ 63.60 per barrel, down 29 cents (0.5%) from their latest settlement. WTI rose 0.5% on Friday.
The head of National Oil Corp. Libyan warned Friday that the resumption of fighting could eliminate crude oil production in the country.
"Supply-side issues have remained a concern for the market. Libyan rebel leader Khalifa Haftar has brought the forces of Tripoli closer, "said ANZ Bank in a research note.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies met in June to decide whether or not to retain the holdback. The OPEC, Russia and other producers, an alliance known as OPEC +, are cutting their production by 1.2 million bpd as of January 1 for six months.
Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC, is seen as eager to continue downsizing, but sources within the group have said it could increase production from July if disturbances continue elsewhere. .
According to the news agency TASS, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Saturday that Russia and OPEC could decide to increase production in order to fight to conquer market share with the United States.
Report by Colin Packham; edited by Richard Pullin
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