Crude oil trades higher after positive comments from OPEC

Crude oil traded higher on Monday as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) predicts prices to stabilize in the second half of 2015.

OPEC’s Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said on Sunday prices will return to balance in the second half of this year, adding that the industry's ‎long-term outlook remained positive.  

On the other hand, Goldman Sachs sees oil prices falling towards $40 a barrel in the near term due to the rise in crude inventories.

The latest EIA report showed that the U.S. build crude stocks of 10.3 million barrels from 8.4 million barrels a week earlier. 

As of 11:00 p.m. GMT, crude oil for April delivery traded around $50.06 a barrel, where the highest level in the session was recorded at $50.77.

Alike other commodities, oil prices continue to face pressure from the strength of the dollar, which climbed to more than 11 year high after upbeat NFP data.

Data released on Friday showed that American employers added 295,000 jobs in February, compared with 257,000 jobs in January and analysts’ forecasts of 240,000.

The dollar index, which tracks the dollar’s movements versus a basket of major currencies, is currently trading around 97.58, after visiting a high of 97.83.

Brent crude oil traded lower around $55.53, after registering a high of $60.00 and a low of $58.37.