Oil prices rise following downbeat week

Oil prices eked out modest gains on Monday, recouping some of the losses they had suffered in the prior week, reported Xinhua.

The West Texas Intermediate for December delivery added 66 cents, or 0.8 percent, to settle at 81.93 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for January delivery increased 69 cents, or 0.8 percent, to close at 83.43 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Traders continued to digest major oil producers' decision on output.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, last week confirmed that it would be sticking with its current plan and stepping up production by another 400,000 barrels per day (b/d) in December. The group is gradually easing record output cuts made last year.

OPEC+ boosted crude oil production by 480,000 b/d in October, but only half of the group's members actually increased output last month, according to an S&P Global Platts survey released on Monday.

The survey said many OPEC+ members are "struggling to pump [oil] as they had promised."

For the week ending Nov. 5, the U.S. crude benchmark lost nearly 2.8 percent, while Brent dropped 1.2 percent, based on the front-month contracts.