By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Oil was down Monday morning in Asia, extending its losses from the previous Friday. The black liquid extended its losses from Friday as the strengthened and the , even as almost a quarter of U.S. Gulf of Mexico output remained shut after Hurricanes Ida and Nicholas.

At 10:12 ET (2:12 GMT), they were down 0.54% at $74.90 (down 0.75% from the previous day). Following the Sep. 19 rollover of the November 2021 contract, $71.28 dropped 0.75% Brent futures and WTI futures were both above $70, however.

Dollar gained on Monday.

The dollar fell on Monday, alongside oil that had reached a high of nearly three weeks ago. U.S. data released on the same day showed that September’s and indexes were at 67.1 and 71 respectively.

Expectations are also mounting that the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin asset tapering later in 2021, with the central bank due to hand down its on Wednesday.

OANDA analyst Edward Moya stated in a note that WTI futures could consolidate during the next few trading sessions, until the trajectory for the dollar becomes a bit clearer.

A rising U.S. rig count also contributed to oil’s downward trend. Baker Hughes reported on Friday that oil and gas production rose nine percent to 512 in week ending Sep. 17. This is the highest level since April 2020, and twice the amount from the same period in 2020.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, 23% of crude oil output from the Gulf of Mexico (or 422,078 barrels) per day, was still offline on Friday.