Oil prices fell on March 31 after a three-day rally ran out of steam due to a stronger dollar, promising to notch up the oil market's worst-performing quarter since 2015 as investors fret that growing U.S. supplies are undermining OPEC-led cuts.
Brent crude futures have made the biggest losses across global asset classes this quarter. In March, the contracts posted the biggest monthly losses since July as growing U.S. crude inventories and drilling activity counterbalanced production cuts elsewhere in the world.
Brent futures were down 53 cents at $52.43 a barrel (bbl) at 5:23 a.m. CT (10:23 GMT). The contracts have lost around 7% since the previous quarter, the worst quarterly losses since late 2015.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 36 cents at $49.99/bbl, slipping back below $50. They too are on track to end the quarter around 7% lower, also the worst quarterly losses since late 2015.
The dollar was on track to mark its strongest week in seven, weighing on greenback-denominated commodities such as oil.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see some profit-taking ahead of the weekend after the strong gains in recent days," said Carsten Fritsch, commodity analyst at Commerzbank. "The expected rise in the U.S. rig count later today provides some arguments to sell at last."
Later on March 31, Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) will publish weekly U.S. oil rig figures. The indicator has shown huge gains, with the rig count doubling in a 10-month recovery and undermining efforts led by OPEC to rein in output.
Oil prices had gained momentum this week on a growing sense that OPEC and non-member Russia would extend their production cut, seeking to drive the market higher.
OPEC and non-OPEC producers including Russia agreed late last year to cut output by almost 1.8 MMbbl/d in the first half of 2017 to rein in a global supply overhang and prop up prices.
Nevertheless, analysts polled on a monthly basis by Reuters have slightly lowered their oil price expectations for this year.
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