Crude Oil Hits Six-Week Low Before Rising to $53.71 a Barrel

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rude oil prices fell in early intraday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday before climbing back above $53 a barrel at the close, Bloomberg reported.

Benchmark light sweet crude oil futures fell to $52.10 a barrel, a six-week low, before climbing to close at $53.71 a barrel, Bloomberg said.

Oil had hit a record $58.28 high in intraday trading last Monday before receding to close at $57.01 a barrel.

OPEC officials were considering boosting its output by another 500,000 barrels a day, on top of a March 16 pledge to raise it by that amount, Bloomberg said.

In London, Brent North Sea crude oil prices fell by 96 cents on the International Petroleum Exchange, Bloomberg reported. Those prices had hit $57.05 a week ago, a record.

Crude oil is still almost 40% higher than this time last year, Bloomberg said.