SINGAPORE (Reuters)
Oil prices fell on Monday, continuing their sharp fall on Friday. Saudi Arabia and Russia say they may increase supplies while there is no sign of a slowdown in US production growth.
By 0452 GMT, Brent crude futures were trading at $ 75.09 a barrel, down $ 1.35, 1.8 percent, from the previous close.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were $ 66.22 a barrel, down $ 1.66 or 2.5 percent.
The contracts fell 6.4 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively, from the peak they touched earlier this month.
In China, Shanghai crude futures fell 4.8 percent to 457.7 Yuan ($ 71.64) a barrel.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia, the world's largest and non-OPEC producers, began curbing supply in 2017 to narrow the gap between supply and demand in the market and support prices, which fell in 2016 to their lowest level in more than 10 years at less than $ 30 a barrel.
But prices have risen since last year's cuts began, surpassing Brent $ 80 a barrel earlier in May, which raised concerns that rising prices could hinder economic growth and fuel inflation.
To offset the potential shortage of supplies, Saudi Arabia and Russia said on Friday they were discussing increasing oil production by about 1 million bpd.
At the same time, the increasing production of US crude oil does not show any signs of a decline as the US drilling companies continue to expand the search for new oil fields in order to exploit them.
US energy companies added 15 oil drilling platforms in the week ending May 25, bringing the number of diggers to 859, which is the highest level since 2015, in a strong sign that US crude production will continue to grow.
