2020.04.0619:15:00UTC+00Oil Settles Sharply Lower After Recent Hefty Gains

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Monday, after moving up in the previous two sessions, following the meeting of leading oil producers getting postponed by three days.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June ended down $2.26, or about 8%, at $26.08 a barrel.

Brent crude futures shed more than 3% to settle at $33.05 a barrel.

On Friday, WTI crude oil futures ended up $3.02, or about 12%, at $28.34 a barrel, after surging up almost 25%, a session earlier.

Oil futures gained as much as 32% last week.

The scheduled meeting between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies that was supposed to take place today, has now been postponed to Thursday. The meeting was convened to discuss production cuts.

Oil prices had shot up late last week following the announcement about the meeting as traders felt the meet would result in top crude producers agreeing on deep production cuts to stabilize oil prices, which have plummeted to dismal levels.

It is expected that the meeting will bring about a truce in the brutal price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The two countries have been locked in an epic price war since early March after Russia rejected the 1.5 million barrels per day cut that Saudi Arabia had proposed in a bid to prop up falling oil prices.

According to a Reuters report, the CEO of Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF told CNBC that Moscow and Riyadh were "very close" to an oil deal, as Russia reportedly said it was ready to reduce output.