Oil markets were firm on Monday as the number of US rigs drilling for new production fell and refineries continued to start up after getting knocked out by Hurricane Harvey.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $49.89 a barrel at 0232 GMT, unchanged from their settlement last Friday and still close to the more than three-month high of $50.50 briefly reached on Thursday, reports Reuters.
Brent crude futures LCOc1, the benchmark for oil prices outside the United States, were at $55.67 a barrel, up 5 cents and not far off the almost five-month high of $55.99 on Thursday.
Oil refineries across the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean were restarting after being shut due to hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which battered the region in the past three weeks.
Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.L) Deer Park refinery in Texas was among the latest, beginning its restart on Sunday. The plant can process 325,700 barrels per day.