International benchmark Brent crude gained 23 cents to $23.16 a barrel after jumping 82 cents on Friday.

OPEC president Abullah al-Attiyah of Qatar said on Sunday that he did not expect OPEC to raise output when it meets in March because excess stockpiles were not shrinking fast enough.

``I don't expect an increase in OPEC production and that is based on information we are receiving on the levels of stockpiles in the market,'' Attiyah said in an interview with Arabic daily al-Hayat.

Attiyah's comments echoed those made last week made by the oil ministers of OPEC bigwigs Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela and Kuwait. Non-OPEC Mexico also has said it does not want to risk a slide in prices when the agreement on output curbs expires in March.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and a handful of non-OPEC states -- including Mexico -- agreed last March to remove some five million barrels a day from the 75 million bpd world market for a year.

Dealers on Monday said the speculators that led prices higher earlier this year bought heavily again at the end of last week and were showing no sign of reversing those positions.

Those speculators were behind a sharp sell-off two weeks ago when Brent dipped $4 from a year's high of $24.30.

Speculators in US oil futures sharply cut long, or purchase, positions in New York Mercantile Exchange crude in the two weeks to October 19, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Net long positions held by speculators in NYMEX crude fell to 24,802 contracts by October 19 from 63,180 two weeks previous, the CFTC said in report on Friday. Net longs hit an all-time high of 82,683 on September 7.