Brent ended on a loss of 1.37% to $ 51.09 and WTI ended down 1.85% and fell back below $ 48.

Oil prices fell on Monday after hitting a ten-month high earlier in the day, a sign of excitement during an OPEC+ meeting that postponed its decision on February's production level until Tuesday.

The barrel of North Sea Brent for delivery in March lost 1.37% or 71 cents to $51.09.

At the beginning of the day in London, it had reached $ 53.33, a price more seen since March 3, 2020.

The US barrel of WTI for the month of February gave up 1.85% or 90 cents to $ 47.62, after having climbed to $ 49.83, flirting with the $ 50 mark that it has not crossed since February 26.

Investors and market observers had their eyes on the ministerial summit of members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies via the OPEC+ agreement which began by videoconference around 15:30 GMT (16:30 in Paris).

But the participants decided on Monday to postpone until Tuesday their decision on the level of production for the month of February, after three hours of discussions by videoconference.

"Crude oil prices face several risks at the beginning of the year, the main one being that an OPEC+ group is too aggressive by putting more crude on the market," said Edward Moya, an analyst at Oanda.

Despite Saudi Energy Minister Abdelaziz bin Salman's cautious speech at an online press conference shortly before the meeting on Monday, some investors are now considering the producer group to turn on its crude tap again next month. a step perhaps premature as the recovery of demand remains uncertain.

At the beginning of December, the countries of the alliance had decided to increase their production, which they voluntarily limit, by only 500,000 barrels per day, to avoid flooding the market with the two million barrels daily initially planned.