---

Last Friday's losses for the price of crude oil, which fell on Baker Hughes rig count data revealing an increase in the number of producing rigs in the U.S. for the tenth week out of the last 11, reversed somewhat on Monday, assisted by bullish Genscape data and by a greenback struggling amidst failing hopes for an interest rate increase.

Hopes for an interest rate increase in the United States crumbled on Monday when Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard spoke at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, saying that the U.S. labor market is not yet at full strength and that "the case to tighten policy pre-emptively is less compelling". Investors and analysts have recently been discussing the possibility of a federal interest rate increase in the near future but after Brainard's cautionary speech on Monday rate hikes are seeming considerably less likely any time soon. The greenback shifted downward as news of Brainard’s speech circulated, supporting the price of greenback-traded crude oil.

Genscape's data for the week ended September 9th showed an inventory drop of 1.2 million barrels at Cushing, Oklahoma, the world's most important crude oil trading hub. The bullish nature of this forecast helped the price of crude and has people wondering what will be in store for the Energy Information Administration (EIA) report later in the week. The drop of 14.5 million barrels in American crude inventories reported by the EIA for the week ended September 2nd was seen as mainly weather related, with the inventory expected to swing back upwards as ships that were unable to unload in stormy weather are able to unload as weather abates.

By the end of Monday's session, November Brent crude futures gained 31 cents, or 0.7%, to reach $48.32 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Exchange, while October West Texas Intermediate rose 41 cents, or 0.9%, to $46.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The day's main influences, the bears and bulls:

The Bears:

- Continuing influence from another weekly rig count increase reported last Friday by Baker Hughes.

The Bulls:

- A greenback weakened by Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard's cautioning on Monday against an immediate federal interest rate hike.

- Genscape's report showing a 1.2 million barrel drop in crude oil at Cushing, Oklahoma for the week ended September 9th.