Brent crude <LCOc1> rose 12 cents, or 0.3%, to $42.04 a barrel
by 1151 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate <CLc1> was at $40.36 a
barrel, up 11 cents or 0.3%.
"Dollar strength and macroeconomic uncertainty are likely to
keep dominating oil's agenda this week," said BNP Paribas
analyst Harry Tchilinguirian, noting a firming dollar has helped
mitigate recent losses.
Still, surging virus cases continued to sow demand doubts.
"The rise in daily infections has accelerated and the total
number is now very close to 33 million. The most impacted
countries are the populous ones," PVM analyst Tamas Varga said.
"The speed with which the virus is spreading is the main concern
for both health officials and financial investors."
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday that the
global oil market has been stable for the past few months and
the demand-supply balance restored, but warned of the risks of a
second wave of COVID-19 cases.
Despite efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries and their allies to limit output, more crude is being
exported from OPEC producers Iran and Libya.
OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said on Sunday that
commercial oil inventories in OECD countries are expected to
stand only slightly above the five-year average in the first
quarter of 2021, before falling below that level for the rest of
the year.
A factor that may offer some support to the market is the
prospect of industrial action in Norway, where a workers' strike
that may take place on Sept. 30 is threatening to cut its
production by 900,000 barrels per day, the Norwegian Oil and Gas
Association (NOG) said on Friday.
(Reporting by Noah Browning and Florence Tan; editing by Jason
Neely and David Evans)
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