Singapore — Oil prices recovered ground on Monday following last week’s big losses, driven by the expectation that oil cartel Opec will extend a pledge to cut output to cover all of 2017, although a relentless rise in US drilling capped gains. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures added 26c, or 0.5%, by 4.01am GMT, but were still below the $50 mark pierced on Friday at $49.88 a barrel. Brent crude futures rose 30c, or 0.6%, to $52.26 a barrel. Oil prices fell steeply last week due to stubbornly high crude supplies, despite a pledge by Opec and some other producers to cut production by almost 1.8-million barrels a day for six months from January 1 to support the market. US drillers added oil rigs for a 14th consecutive week, to 688 rigs, extending an 11-month recovery that is expected to boost US shale production in May by the biggest monthly increase in more than two years. "Since its trough on May 27 2016, producers have added 372 oil rigs (+118%) in the US," Goldman S...
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