Oil prices settle lower as traders assess impact of winter output

Oil prices settled slightly lower on Monday after climbing more than 2% in the previous session as investors assessed the impact on output in US crudeproducing regions from winter storms and the impact of any tensions between the US and Iran.

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Brent crude futures closed down 29 cents, or 0.4%, at $65.59 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTD crude was down 44 cents, or 0.7%, at $60.63.

Both benchmarks notched weekly gains of 2.7% to close on Friday at their highest since Jan. 14.

US oil producers lost up to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) or roughly 15% of national production over the weekend, analysts and traders estimated, as a winter storm swept across the country, straining energy infrastructure and power grids.

Oil production outages peaked on Saturday, consultancy Energy Aspects estimated, with the Permian Basin likely to have experienced the largest share of that decline at around 1.5 million bpd. Production losses eased on Monday, with Permian shut-ins estimated at about 700,000 bpd and production set to be fully restored by Jan. 30.