Brent crude futures rose 17 cents, or 0.2%, to $75.75 a barrel
by 1111 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for
July delivery, the more actively traded contract, rose 15 cents,
or 0.2%, to $71.84.
The June WTI contract, which expires later on Monday, rose 7
cents to $71.62 a barrel.
Talks to avert a default on U.S. debt were set to resume in
Washington on Monday, as the prospect of a default and resulting
possible economic downturn and cooling of fuel demand continued
to spook markets.
Still, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned of a looming
shortage in the second half when demand is expected to eclipse
supply by almost 2 million barrels per day (bpd), the
Paris-based agency said in its latest monthly report.
"I expect plenty of volatility in the coming days and a bounce
upward in crude prices as and when a deal is reached to raise
the debt ceiling," said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market
analysis provider Vanda Insights.
Last week, both oil benchmarks gained about 2%, their first
weekly gain in five, after wildfires shut in large amounts of
crude supply in Alberta, Canada.
The impact of voluntary production cuts by the Organization of
the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies
including Russia, known as OPEC+, is also being felt after going
into effect this month.
Total exports of crude and oil products from the group plunged
by 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) by May 16, JP Morgan said,
adding that Russian oil exports will likely fall by late May.
On Saturday, the Group of Seven (G7) nations pledged at its
annual leaders' meeting to enhance efforts to counter Russia's
evasion of the price caps on its oil and fuel exports "while
avoiding spillover effects and maintaining global energy
supply", but did not provide details.
Those moves are not expected to change the supply situation for
crude and oil products, the IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol
told Reuters on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
(Additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore and Mohi
Narayan in New Delhi; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and
Bernadette Baum)
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