Singapore — Oil ticked lower on Monday, falling for the first time in three sessions as prospects of rising US production weighed on the market. US energy companies last week added the most rigs drilling for new production in almost four years. Drillers added 29 rigs in the week to January 20, bringing the total count up to 551, the most since November 2015, energy services firm Baker Hughes said on Friday. US oil production has risen more than 6% since mid-2016, although it remains 7% below a historic high in 2015. It is back to levels of late 2014, when strong US crude output contributed to a crash in oil prices. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, was trading at $55.42 a barrel at 4.41am GMT, down 7c from its last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 11c to $53.11 a barrel. Crude oil had traded higher earlier in the session on the back of output cuts by Opec and other producers. Production cuts by oil producers and a weaker dollar preven...
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