The West Texas Intermediate for December delivery settled flat at 83.76 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for December delivery increased 46 cents to close at 85.99 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
"The upswing in oil prices is continuing as the new week of trading begins," Carsten Fritsch, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said Monday in a note, adding tight supply is likely to persist, which suggests that "oil prices will rise further."
"Unlike in the past, when output would be hiked significantly in reaction to higher prices, fracking companies are continuing to hold back," he said.
Data from U.S. oilfield services company Baker Hughes on Friday showed that the oil rig count actually declined last week for the first time since the beginning of September, albeit only marginally.
For the week ending Friday, the U.S. crude benchmark rose 2.5 percent, while Brent gained 0.8 percent, based on the front-month contracts.
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