LONDON: Brent oil prices sank Monday, after bumper gains before the weekend, as some traders took profits and eyed plentiful crude supplies, analysts said.
European benchmark Brent North Sea crude for April delivery dropped $2.11 to $60.47 a barrel in London late afternoon deals.
On the upside, however, New York's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April added 69 cents to $50.45 a barrel.
Crude futures had rebounded sharply Friday at the end of a volatile trading week. WTI had advanced $1.59 while Brent gained a hefty $2.53.
"Oil prices came under renewed pressure," said Sucden analyst Myrto Sokou on Monday.
"Crude oil inventories continue to remain at fairly high levels following ongoing builds of crude stocks last week."
Oil has lost about 50 percent of its value since June, largely due to a global supply glut partially caused by surging US shale production.
"Although there is still a global supply glut, oil prices are on a general increasing trend especially with the falling rig count numbers indicating that US shale is responding to low prices," Ken Hasegawa, energy trading manager at Newedge Group in Tokyo, told AFP.
The weekly Baker Hughes US drilling rig count showed the number of rigs in operation fell by 33 to 986 in the week to February 27. The count is down 39 percent since October, according to Bloomberg News.
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