U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $43.71 a barrel, up 22 cents, or 0.51 percent, from their last close.
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Oil prices entered a “bear” market last week, having fallen more than 20 percent from peak levels above $50 a barrel seen in early June.
Smith said oil prices had dropped Wednesday after Saudi oil production figures showed the country´s output had risen last month to almost 11 million barrels per day.
World stocks were headed for their fourth week of gains in five on Friday after a surge in oil prices helped propel Wall Street’s three main indexes to co-ordinated record highs for the first time since 1999.
As such, crude prices continue to extend their falls on Thursday after the IEA, indeed, trimmed its oil demand forecast on next year’s oil demand.
OPEC will hold informal talks at the International Energy Forum in Algiers, Mohammed Al Sada, Qatar’s energy minister and holder of OPEC’s rotating presidency, said in a statement on Monday.
Around 1145 GMT, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October was down a cent at $44.04 a barrel.
Lower oil prices have forced high-cost producers such as the United States to slash spending and reduce drilling, resulting in an expected drop in non-OPEC output of 0.9 million bpd this year.
An outlook published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) that said it expected the supply and demand balance to tighten towards year-end also supported prices.
According to media sources, Minister Khalid al-Falih said this will be an opportunity for OPEC and major exporting non-OPEC ministers to discuss ways to stabilise oil prices.
Prices in recent days were supported by renewed calls by some Opec members to freeze production, a demand that non-Opec oil-producing giant Russian Federation was quick to dismiss.
“Our balances show essentially no oversupply during the second half of the year”, the IEA said.
Differences between Saudi Arabia and Iran caused the demise of a proposal to freeze production at an April summit in Doha, as both countries have boosted output since that meeting.
On the other hand, oil oversupply, which has again been weighing on crude prices since June, will disappear in the latter part of 2016, the IEA said.
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“Saudi Arabia and OPEC once favored keeping prices high through production cuts but have decided in the past two years to instead keep the spigots on full blast and compete for oil buyers – a decision that fueled the glut”, the WSJ noted.
