Oil prices heading for another slide?

Benchmark U.S. crude prices reached a three-month low on Tuesday, affirming an uneven road ahead for the energy sector.

Concerns about oversupply pushed down U.S. crude prices to US$42.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange around midday. Brent crude had fallen to US$44.71.

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American oil drillers have been planning increased production, adding rigs for four consecutive weeks and edging up the number of active rigs by 15 last week, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Bjarne Schieldrop, commodities analyst from Sweden’s SEB bank, told The WSJ that it was a turning point.

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“The revival in rig count mirrors what happened to the oil price rally in 2015,” he told the newspaper, referring to last year’s collapse in oil prices. “We had expected to see some delayed reaction in the return of shale oil due to elevated debt levels, but the data is telling a different story.”