Oil prices dipped slightly on Monday as investors weighed the potential for a global supply glut while heightened international trade tensions exacerbated fears of an economic slowdown and weakened energy demand. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil contract for November delivery fell by $0.02, a decrease of 0.03%, closing at $57.52 per barrel. Brent crude oil contracts settled down by $0.28, a decline of 0.46%, finishing at $61.01 per barrel. Both benchmark crude oil prices fell by more than $1 during the early trading session. The contract structure for global benchmark Brent crude indicates that traders' concerns have shifted from shortages to oversupply. The six-month price spread between Brent and U.S. crude contracts shows that prices for earlier shipments are lower than those for later shipments, a structure known as contango, which incentivizes traders to pay for oil storage to sell at higher prices when they expect future supply to decrease. The Brent crude contract experienced a contango on Thursday for the first time since a brief occurrence in May, with the price spread at its widest level since December 2023. The U.S. crude contract entered a contango on Friday for the first time since January 2024. "These fears of excess supply are now hitting the market, especially looking towards 2026. We should start to see floating storage increase, filling up inland storage tanks," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital. "This is a real bearish signal we haven't seen in a while," Kilduff added. Both benchmark oil prices fell by over 2% last week, marking a third consecutive week of declines, partly due to the International Energy Agency's outlook for worsening oversupply in 2026. For most of this year, both contracts were in the opposite structure, known as backwardation, where spot prices were higher than future prices, reflecting market perceptions of tight near-term supply and steady demand. Last week, the director-general of the World Trade Organization stated that she urged the U.S. and China to ease trade tensions, warning that a decoupling between the two largest economies could reduce global economic output by 7% in the long term. The two leading oil consumers have recently reignited a trade war, imposing additional port fees on ships carrying goods between the two countries—these tit-for-tat actions could disrupt global shipping flows. Uncertainty remains regarding Russian oil supplies, with U.S. President Trump warning again on Sunday that Washington would maintain "large-scale" tariffs on India unless it stops purchasing Russian oil. In terms of supply, energy services firm Baker Hughes reported that U.S. energy companies increased drilling rigs for the first time in three weeks. "In the short term, the market is in a typical seasonal demand lull, facing refinery maintenance, weak refined product crack spreads, and closely watching U.S. weekly inventory data," analysts at energy consulting firm Gelber and Associates stated in a report. A preliminary survey conducted by media on Monday indicated that U.S. crude inventories are expected to have increased last week, adding further pressure. Reuters' poll of five analysts before the weekly inventory data release estimated an increase of about 1.5 million barrels for the week ending October 17.