Crude oil prices drifted lower in early Monday trading as markets remain tilted toward the supply side and OPEC shows no signs of drawing down.
The price for Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, was volatile early in the Monday trading day, dropping off about a half a percent before the opening bell on Wall Street, but posting small gains at the start of the trading day in the United States. Brent was trading at about $55 per barrel for the May contract.
Prices recovered from near the $45 per barrel mark mid-January to above $60 per barrel, but have since pulled back to the mid-$50s for much of the month.
Mohammend al-Madi, the OPEC governor for Saudi Arabia, said during an energy conference in Riyadh it would be "difficult" for current markets to return to a scenario where oil priced about $100 per barrel was normal.
Prices were hammered last week after the Kuwaiti oil minister said November decisions from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to keep production levels steady would hold for the mid-term.
The Saudi governor said OPEC's policies were not meant to drive shale oil produced in the United States out of the market.
"On the contrary we welcome it, as it balances the market in the long run," he said.
OPEC's production levels and the glut of oil in the United States mean supply far outweighs demand in the global marketplace. The U.S. Energy Information Administration confirmed Monday crude oil stored in the United States was at a record level.
The price for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, continued to hover near the 2015 low of $44.53 per barrel. WTI in early Monday trading was down 1.6 percent to $45.81 per barrel.
