Investing.com - Oil prices rallied in volatile trade during North American hours on Monday, amid hopes global oil producers will make progress on a deal to limit production at a meeting later this week.
The 15th International Energy Forum kicked off in Algiers on Monday with all eyes on the informal meeting tentatively scheduled for Wednesday afternoon among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
OPEC members, led by Saudi Arabia and other big Middle East crude exporters, such as Iran and Iraq, will meet non-OPEC producer Russia on the last day of the conference.
According to market experts, chances that the meeting would yield any action to reduce the global glut appeared minimal. Instead, most believe that oil producers will continue to monitor the market and possibly postpone freeze talks to the official OPEC meeting in Vienna on November 30.
An attempt to jointly freeze production levels earlier this year failed after Saudi Arabia backed out over Iran's refusal to take part of the initiative, underscoring the difficulty for political rivals to forge consensus.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for December delivery rose 92 cents, or 1.98%, to $47.40 a barrel by 9:35AM ET (13:35GMT).
On Friday, London-traded Brent futures sank $1.73, or 3.59%, amid signs Saudi Arabia and Iran were making little progress in achieving preliminary agreement to freeze production.
Elsewhere, crude oil for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange tacked on 88 cents, or 1.95%, to $45.36 a barrel after plunging $1.84, or 3.97%, on Friday.
Market players continued to focus on U.S. drilling prospects, amid indications of a recent recovery in drilling activity. Oilfield services provider Baker Hughes said late Friday that the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. last week rose by 2 to 418, marking the 12th increase in 13 weeks.