Investing.com - Crude oil prices started the week on the back foot on Monday, but remained close to their best levels in months amid optimism that the crude market was well on its way towards rebalancing.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures shed 11 cents, or around 0.2%, to $51.56 a barrel by 3:20AM ET (0720GMT), remaining within sight of a five-month high reached last week.
WTI prices gained around 2% last week to notch their fourth-straight weekly climb. It ended September with an increase of roughly 9.5% and saw quarterly rise of about 12%.
Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., dipped 23 cents, or about 0.4%, to $56.56 a barrel. It had reached its highest in more than two years last week.
The global benchmark closed last week with a gain of 1.2%, its fifth-consecutive weekly climb. Brent futures scored a nearly 10% gain for September and ended the quarter up roughly 19%.
Prices have gained more than 20% from their June lows, meeting the definition of a bull market, as data showed strong compliance from major producers with their supply cut agreement and a plethora of energy agencies suggested global demand is increasing.
In May, OPEC and non-OPEC members led by Russia agreed to extend production cuts of 1.8 million barrels per day for a period of nine months until March 2018 in a bid to reduce global oil inventories and support oil prices.
Oil price gains have also been supported by anticipated renewed demand from U.S. refiners that were resuming operations after shutdowns due to Hurricane Harvey.
Mounting fears over the potential fallout from the independence referendum in the oil-rich Kurdish region of Iraq have provided further support in recent weeks.
In the week ahead, market participants will eye fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products on Tuesday and Wednesday to further weigh what the impact of recent storm activity was on supply and demand.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures were down 0.8 cents, or 0.6%, to $1.578 a gallon, while heating oil slumped 0.9 cents, or 0.6%, to $1.800 a gallon.
Natural gas futures inched up 0.6 cents, or 0.2%, to $3.013 per million British thermal units.