Singapore — Oil prices fell by about 1% on Monday as drilling activity in the US, the world’s largest oil producer, picked up and financial markets were pulled down by trade concerns. A refinery fire in the US state of Illinois, which resulted in the shutdown of a large crude distillation unit, which could cause crude demand to fall also weighed on prices, traders said. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $52.09 a barrel at 3.47am GMT, down 63c, or 1.2%, from their last settlement. International Brent crude oil futures were down 49c, or 0.8%, at $61.61 a barrel. In the US, energy firms last week increased the number of oil rigs operating for the second time in three weeks, a weekly report by Baker Hughes said on Friday. Companies added seven oil rigs in the week to February 8, bringing the total count to 854, pointing to a further rise in US crude production, which already stands at a record 11.9-million barrels a day. WTI prices were also weighed down by the clos...
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