London — Oil rose above $49 a barrel on Monday as a slowdown in the growth of rigs drilling in the US eased concern that surging shale supplies would undermine cuts led by the Opec cartel. US drillers added two oil rigs in the week to July 14, bringing the total to 765, Baker Hughes said on Friday. Rig additions over the past four weeks averaged five, the lowest since November. "The slowing pace of increases combined with massive drawdowns last week on both official crude inventory numbers from the US probably explains the positive sentiment in general at the moment," said Jeffrey Halley at brokerage Oanda. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up 19c at $49.10 a barrel by 8.44am GMT. US crude traded at $46.71, up 17c. Oil prices are less than half their mid-2014 level because of a persistent glut even after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, plus Russia and other nonmembers, started a supply-cutting pact in January. US crude oil inventories in the week to July ...
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