Oil prices falls

Reuters

Singapore

Oil prices fell in Asian trade on Monday on a strong dollar and signs that global crude supply is holding up even as volumes hit by unplanned outages rise to at least five-year highs.

In a further indication of abundant supply, the number of rigs operated by U.S. drillers was steady last week for the first time this year.  Brent futures had dropped 57 cents to $48.15 a barrel by 0641 GMT, after ending the previous session 9 cents down.

U.S. crude futures fell 64 cents to $47.77 a barrel, having settled down 41 cents the day before.  The dollar index was marginally lower on Monday after gaining for a third straight week last week.

A stronger greenback makes dollar-priced commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies.

That came as U.S. crude rose 3.3 percent last week, while Brent was up 1.7 percent, as unplanned supply outages rose to the highest since at least 2011 due to wildfires in Canada and losses in Nigeria, Libya and Venezuela.