Oil prices fell over 1 per cent on Monday as traders took profits after three weeks of gains and as a jump in the dollar late last week was priced into fuel markets.
Front-month Brent crude was trading at $44.61 per barrel at 0332 GMT, down 50 cents, or 1.1 per cent, from their last settlement.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were down 62 cents, or 1.4 per cent, at $43.11 a barrel.
Analysts said the price drops were a result of cashing in after three weeks of rising prices.
“I guess (there’s been) some profit-taking after a strong rally into the end of last week,” said Virendra Chauhan of Energy Aspects in Singapore.
Market data shows that the amount of open positions betting on rising WTI prices rose to levels last seen in June 2015 last week, while bets taken out in expectation of falling prices fell close to 2016 lows.
Strong dollar
Traders also said oil fell on a jump in the dollar on Friday against a basket of other leading currencies on expectations that Japan will further extend its aggressive monetary easing through negative interest rates.
A stronger dollar, in which oil is traded, makes fuel imports for countries using other currencies more expensive, potentially hitting demand.
“Fundamentals remain bearish and are set to deteriorate further, especially if prices move higher,” Morgan Stanley said on Monday.
The bank said that a recent rally was largely fuelled by investment by hedge funds and that the price gains resulting from these inflows were not supported by fundamentals as production by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was likely to increase while slowing economic growth, including in emerging markets, could hit oil demand.
“A macro unwind (of its positions) could cause severe selling given positioning and the nature of the players in this rally,” Morgan Stanley said.
US rig count
Monday’s oil price decline came despite another cut in the US rig count that brings activity down for a fifth straight week and to levels last seen in November 2009.
A total of 343 rigs were drilling for new oil last week. That compares to over 700 this time last year, according to oil services company Baker Hughes, as energy firms have sharply reduced oil and gas drilling since the collapse in crude markets that cut prices by as much as 70 per cent to 13-year lows earlier this year.