Oil rebounded from lows as flows to a key Turkish terminal were suspended and part of a major European field was shut down.
The US crude oil benchmark known as Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading at 73.65 and market indicators, known as time spreads, have become more optimistic. Turkey halted oil supplies to the Ceyhan export terminal on the Mediterranean Sea after a major earthquake, while production at part of Norway's giant Johan Sverdrup field was lower due to a power outage. Ceyhan exports more than 1 million barrels a day, while Johan Sverdrup's first phase usually produces more than 500,000 barrels a day.
There was also renewed optimism about energy demand in China after International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol said over the weekend that the world's biggest crude importer could see a stronger-than-expected recovery that would increase demand for crude. That view was supported Monday by the chief executive of Kuwait Petroleum Corp.
"The prospect of improving Chinese oil demand and some supply disruptions are modestly supporting oil prices Monday," said Giovanni Staunovo, a commodities analyst at UBS Group AG.
A European ban on offshore imports of Russian oil products in response to the fighting in Ukraine went into effect Sunday. The measure is combined with price caps similar to those in place for oil, and is designed to limit Moscow's revenues while simultaneously securing supplies to third countries.