Oil prices edge up on stimulus support despite ample supplies

* Brent set for 5th monthly gain; 4th mth for WTI
* Hedge funds cut bullish bets on U.S. crude - CFTC
* U.S. oil, gas rigs up 3 in August - Baker Hughes

By Florence Tan
SINGAPORE, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Oil prices nudged up on
Monday, with Brent futures set to post a fifth straight monthly
gain, as global stimulus measures underpin prices even as demand
struggles to return to pre-COVID levels in a well supplied
market.
Brent crude futures for November LCOc1 climbed 27 cents,
or 0.6%, to $46.08 a barrel by 0038 GMT, while U.S. West Texas
Intermediate crude CLc1 was at $43.11 a barrel, up 14 cents,
or 0.3%.
Brent is set to close out August with a fifth successive
monthly price rise, having peaked at $46.23 a barrel on Aug. 5,
the highest level since March. WTI is on track for a fourth
monthly rise, reaching $43.78 a barrel on Aug. 26 when Hurricane
Laura struck.
Oil markets largely shrugged off the hurricane's impact on
Friday as energy companies continued efforts to restore
operations at U.S. Gulf Coast offshore platforms and refineries
shut before the storm. A weak U.S. dollar has supported oil prices even though fuel
demand has struggled to recover amid the coronavirus pandemic
and supplies remain excessive, although crude may face hurdles
going forward, analysts said.
"We believe that the impact of a cheaper dollar from current
levels will see a minimal impact on crude purchases,
irrespective of slightly more favorable crude pricing," RBC
Capital's Mike Tran said in an Aug. 27 note.
"The relationship between demand and price elasticity is
blunted in the current environment, because oil is already cheap
and readily available and there currently exist a dearth of
buyers."
China's crude imports in September are set to fall for the
first time in five months as record volumes of crude are stored
in and outside of the world's largest importer, data from
Refinitiv and Vortexa showed.
Reflecting concerns about rising supplies and sluggish
global economic recovery, hedge funds and money managers cut
bullish wagers on U.S. crude to the lowest level in nearly four
months, data showed on Friday. Higher oil and gas prices are also encouraging U.S.
producers to resume drilling as the country's oil and gas rig
count rose by three to 254 in August, according to data from
energy services firm Baker Hughes Co. Separately, Saudi Aramco discovered two new oil and gas
fields in the northern regions, the kingdom's energy minister
said on Sunday, state news agency SPA reported.