Oil recovers

Singapore

Oil prices recovered lost ground on Monday following big losses last week, driven by expectations that OPEC will extend a pledge to cut output to cover all of 2017, although a relentless rise in U.S. drilling capped gains.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures added 32 cents, or 0.64 percent, by 0649 GMT, but were still just below the $50 mark pierced on Friday at $49.84 a barrel.

Brent crude futures rose 35 cents, or 0.67 percent, to $52.31 per barrel.

Oil prices fell steeply last week on the back of stubbornly high crude supplies, despite a pledge by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some other producers to cut production by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months from Jan. 1 to support the market.