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By Michael Poulson, A/S Global Risk Management

Brent oil price keeps hovering just below $50 with some intraday swings as market is trying to find direction on mixed news and events.

The coming OPEC/non-OPEC meeting next month keep taking headlines, looks like most oil producers are optimistic about the talks; whether it results in anything else than talks remains uncertain as many of the producers have already declared they will keep producing at current levels if not higher (e.g. Iran, Iraq).

The USD lost some steam yesterday as the financial markets are eying the U.S. job reports later this week. Jobs and unemployment rate are important indicators of the strength of the economy - and a strong economy is a requirement for the central bank potentially raising interest rates.

Tropical storm "Nine" is heading into the Northeast Gulf Coast this week - consequently oil production equal to 168,334 barrels per day of oil has been shut as a precaution. The closures represent 11.5 percent of oil output in the area. Another storm is nearing North Carolina.

Recent production outages in Nigeria could be coming to an end; according to the militant group which has caused an output reduction of around 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 1.56 mio. bpd, it has ended the row of attacks. There has been previous attempts to reach an agreement or at least ceasefire between the parties.

Tonight, the weekly API oil stocks report will be followed closely after last week's surprise 4.4 mio. barrel-build in crude oil inventories; another build is expected ahead of tomorrow's official EIA oil inventory report.