The U.S. oil benchmark settled above $40 a barrel for the first time in nearly three weeks and the global Brent contract touched a four-month high Monday, as the dollar faded and hopes rose for a coming agreement among sovereign producers that would begin to reduce the global crude glut. Both major contracts rose for the second trading session in a row, after surging more than 6% on Friday. The U.S. benchmark ended 1.6% higher at $40.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the Brent contract rose 2.1% to end at $42.83 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. Analysts said there appeared to be little direct reason for the gains Monday, and said it was likely a combination of a softening dollar, hopes that U.S. oil production and inventory data this week would extend declines last week and that Sunday’s meeting of producers in […]