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NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices advanced on Monday amid positive signs of global trade prospects.
The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery gained 0.08 U.S. dollar to settle at 45.41 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for March delivery increased 0.59 dollar to close at 53.80 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Both oil benchmarks were down more than a third this quarter, the steepest decline since the fourth quarter of 2014.
For the year, U.S. crude has lost almost 25 percent, while Brent is off by nearly 20 percent. Enditem
