Brent Crude Drops Below $44 a Barrel

Crude oil futures lost ground in early Asian trading on Monday, pressured by a global supply surplus despite a cut in the number of U.S. oil rigs for an eleventh week out of 12, CNBC reported.

January futures for North Sea Brent blend decreased by 0.46% to $44.22 per barrel, while January futures for WTI crude oil were down 1.83% to $41.13 per barrel, according to the report.

Investors continue to be pessimistic following the release of data about commercial stockpiles of U.S. crude oil that rose by 0.3 million barrels, or 0.1%, to 487.3 million barrels in the week ended on November 13.

"The burden of carrying high U.S. crude oil inventories is large," Kang Yoo-jin, commodities analyst at NH Investment and Securities based in Seoul, said in a note on Monday.

"The markets would likely rebound only if they saw a fall in U.S. crude inventories, while declining U.S. crude output and seasonal demand provide some support to oil at low prices," he said.

Venezuelan oil minister Eulogio del Pino said on Sunday that OPEC cannot allow an oil price war and must take action to stabilize the crude market soon, as noted in the report. When asked how low oil prices could go in 2016 if OPEC doesn't change its policy, he said: "Mid-20s."

U.S. crude was briefly supported on Friday as U.S. drillers removed 10 oil rigs in the week ended Nov. 20, the biggest weekly decline since late October, bringing the total rig count down to 564, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said in its closely followed report.