* Trump says he will return to White House later on Monday
* Six Norway oil and gas fields shut as strike escalates
(Updates with settlement prices, adds market activity)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Oil prices climbed more than 5%
on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he will leave
the hospital where he is being treated for COVID-19, while six
Norwegian offshore oil and gas fields were shut as more workers
joined a strike.
Brent LCOc1 rose $2.02, or 5.1%, to settle at $41.29 a
barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 rose
$2.17, or 5.9%, to settle at $39.22 a barrel.
"A lot of people thought last week's sell-off was overdone,"
said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in
Chicago. "There were a lot of assumptions."
On Friday, prices slumped more than 4% following the news
that Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus. On Monday,
Trump said he will leave the military hospital where he was
being treated later in the day, adding that he felt "really
good."
A wave of infections has hit his White House four weeks
before the U.S. election. Hopes for a U.S. stimulus package to counter the economic
impacts of the pandemic also supported prices. U.S. House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke
by phone for about an hour on Monday and were preparing to talk
again on Tuesday. Oil was also supported by the escalating workers' strike in
Norway over pay. Six Norwegian offshore oil and gas fields were
shut.
The strike will cut Norway's total output capacity by just
over 330,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or about 8% of
total production, according to the Norwegian Oil and Gas
Association (NOG). "This will not entail any serious tightening of supply on
the market as concerns about demand and fears of a renewed
oversupply predominate at present," said Commerzbank analyst
Carsten Fritsch.
The reduction in Norwegian production was mainly balanced by
rising output in Libya, analysts said.
Libyan oil production has increased to 290,000 barrels per
day, a source told Reuters on Monday, almost three times more
than its output during a blockade that began in January and
ended in September. Energy companies on Monday began evacuating offshore oil
platforms as the 25th named storm of the year formed in the
Caribbean and was forecast to move into the Gulf of Mexico and
threaten the Gulf Coast this week.