Oil prices rose back above $70 a barrel on Monday, with U.S. crude on pace for its best one-day dollar gain in over a month, after four weeks of losses for the benchmark.
The contract to deliver international benchmark Brent crude for September was up 83 cents, or 1.1 percent, at $75.12 a barrel by 2:08 p.m. ET. The September contract expires on Tuesday. Trading was heavier for the October contract, which is up 97 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $75.73.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.59, or 2.3 percent, to $70.28 a barrel. While the contract has risen in seven of the last previous 10 sessions, it has not posted a gain of more than $1 a barrel since June 27.
WTI was down more than 7 percent over the last four weeks, as heavy losses in a handful of trading sessions wiped out a string of modest daily gains for the benchmark.
