UPDATE 8-Oil falls on demand concerns, posts second monthly decline

* Brent posts 10% monthly fall, WTI drops 11%
* New lockdowns in Europe pressure prices
* Saudi Arabia and Russia want OPEC+ output kept steady into
2021
* U.S. drillers add most rigs in month since May 2018

(Adds CFTC data)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Friday and
posted a second consecutive monthly drop as rising COVID-19
cases in Europe and the United States heightened concerns over
the outlook for fuel consumption.
Brent crude LCOc1 dropped 19 cents to settle at $37.46 a
barrel, after touching a five-month low of $36.64 in the
previous session. The front-month Brent contract expired on
Friday and the January contract LCOc2 settled down 32 cents.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 38 cents to
settle at $35.79 a barrel, after dipping to its lowest since
June on Thursday at $34.92.
WTI fell 11% for the month, while Brent dropped 10%.
Leaders in France and Germany have ordered their countries
back into lockdown, as a massive second wave of coronavirus
infections threatened to overwhelm Europe before the winter.
The United States also faces a surge of cases, breaking its
single-day record for new infections. "Many nations with high oil consumption across the world are
seeing infection levels that they didn't have even during the
first wave," said Paola Rodriguez-Masiu, Rystad Energy's senior
oil markets analyst. "These infection levels are destined to
bite oil demand, as traffic will be curbed to a minimum during
the coming lockdowns."
Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, a group known as
OPEC+, had planned to raise output by 2 million barrels per day
(bpd) in January.
However, top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia are in favor
of maintaining the group's current output reduction of about 7.7
million bpd into next year in the face of lockdowns in Europe
and rising Libyan oil output. OPEC+ is scheduled to hold a policy meeting over Nov. 30 and
Dec. 1.
"The outcome has the potential to send oil prices $10/bbl in
either direction," PVM analysts said of the meeting.
In the United States, the oil and natural gas rig count rose
in October for the third straight month and drillers added the
most rigs in a month since May 2018, energy services firm Baker
Hughes Co BKR.N said on Friday. Money managers cut their net long U.S. crude futures and
options positions in the week to Oct. 27 by 36,589 contracts to
287,723, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
said on Friday.