Oil held near $42 a barrel in London as investors weighed signs of rebounding demand against a resurgence in new coronavirus cases.

OPEC and its allies are on track to rebalance the oil market and there are encouraging signs of recovery, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told an OPEC+ meeting on Thursday. However, California reported record new virus cases and infections jumped by the more than the weekly average in Florida, which followed a flare up in Beijing last week.

Brent for August settlement added 20 cents, or 0.5%, to $42.39 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange as of 8:24 a.m. Singapore time after increasing 1.6% on Friday.

West Texas Intermediate for July delivery, which expires Monday, gained 8 cents to $39.83 on the New York Mercantile Exchange after climbing 2.3% in the previous session. The more-active August contract rose 21 cents to $40.04.

Source : Bloomberg