Oil prices dip as Iraq raises exports

Oil prices dipped to around $49 a barrel on Monday as Iraq raised its crude exports target ahead of an OPEC meeting while Canadian production was set to restart after huge wildfires.

Attention turned to a meeting by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) in Vienna this week, although most analysts did not expect any changes in the group's production.

While the group has been unable to agree on an output freeze in an effort to support prices, Iraq was the latest Middle East producer to raise its exports quota ahead of the meeting, supplying 5 million barrels of extra crude to its partners in June.

Brent crude futures were at $48.97 a barrel at 0959 GMT, down 35 cents in a third straight day of declines. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $49.13 per barrel, down 20 cents.

The strengthening of the dollar on higher expectations for a near-term U.S. interest rate hike further weighed on greenback-priced commodities.

Trade was however limited due to public holidays in Britain and the United States, where Monday's Memorial Day is seen as the traditional start of U.S. peak demand summer driving season.

Vienna-based consultancy JBC Energy said global oil demand between January and April 2016 rose by 1.5 million barrels per day from a year earlier, stronger than many forecasts, driven by strong consumption in the United States, China and India.