WTI Crude: Oil holds steady as Russia reaffirms commitment to output cuts

WTI Crude: Oil prices were steady on Monday, holding on to strong gains last week after Russia affirmed its commitment to a deal with OPEC producers to keep production in check and support prices. Brent crude was down 1 cent at $62.01 a barrel by 0055 GMT, having logged a weekly gain of more than 4% last week, its best weekly gain since Sept. 20.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 4 cents at $56.62 a barrel, having risen more than 5% last week, also the biggest weekly increase since Sept. 20.

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Russia`s energy ministry said on Friday it is continuing close cooperation with Saudi Arabia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC oil producers to enhance market stability and predictability.

The statement came a day after Igor Sechin, CEO of Russian oil producer, Rosneft , said the September attacks on Saudi oil assets created doubts over its reliability as a supplier. The attacks temporarily shut down around half of the kingdom`s oil output.

"(Russian) oil companies have wanted to get busy stealing oil market share from the Saudis and others for a few years now but ... Moscow has them in a bit of a box and is driving the bus," said Greg McKenna, strategist at McKenna Macro.

OPEC+, an alliance of OPEC members and other major producers including Russia, has since January implemented a deal to cut output by 1.2 million bpd to support the market.

The pact runs to March 2020 and the producers meet to review policy on Dec. 5-6.

Prices were also supported by a statement from the United States and China that they are close to finalizing some parts of a trade agreement after high level discussions.

Elsewhere, a suggestion by U.S. President Donald Trump that Exxon Mobil or another U.S. oil company could operate Syrian oil fields drew rebukes from legal and energy experts.