Oil racks up 9% gain over the past three sessions

(Market Watch) Crude-oil futures on Monday registered their third straight gain, rising by 9% over the three-session period, helped by a further drop in rig counts in the U.S. that suggests a supply glut that has been punishing oil prices over several months may be easing.

That fact as well as data pointing to lower global oil production, including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ move to slash 2015 estimates for non-OPEC oil supples, delivered a lift to crude oil.