WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices are lower Monday morning, amid lingering concerns about excess supply globally and demand growth worries.
Blaming non-OPEC producers for the fall in crude oil prices, the U.A.E. Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said on Sunday that non-OPEC producers should cut output.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi is quoted to have said that the OPEC will not reduce production even if non-OPEC producers decided to cut output.
Crude oil futures for February delivery are down $0.45 or 0.78 percent at $56.68 a barrel, after rising to $58.52 earlier.
On Friday, crude oil futures ended up $2.77 or 5.1 percent at $57.13 a barrel, bouncing back strongly after losing over 4 percent a session earlier.
Wednesday's data from Energy Information Administration that showed a less than expected decline in crude stockpiles in the week ended December 12th contributed to oil's recovery.
Meanwhile, natural gas for February is down $0.201 or 5.79 percent at $3.264 per million btu.
The U.S. Commerce Department will release data on existing home sales for November, at 10 am ET.
Besides weekly oil reports from the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administrations, markets will be looking ahead to third quarter GDP report, durable goods orders data for November, the consumer confidence report from University of Michigan, new home sales report for November and weekly jobless claims report this week.
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