Oil prices rose slightly on Monday, paring steep losses from last week, but the market remained cautious as increases in US drilling activity have undercut an Opec-led push to tighten supply. Trading was subdued due to public holidays in China, the US and Britain. The market remains uncertain about whether the extension of output cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and other producing countries will be enough to support prices. Brent crude futures were up 37 cents at $52.52 per barrel at 3.54pm GMT. Brent fell nearly 3% the previous week. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were 42 cents higher at $50.22 per barrel. Opec and some non-Opec producers pledged last week to extend production cuts of around 1.8-million barrels per day (bpd) until March 2018. An initial agreement, in place since January, would have expired in June. "This is a little bit of a bounce back from last Thursday when we had a really heavy drop," said James L. Williams, ...
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