Mubahser: Oil prices declined on Monday, losing last week’s multi-year gains on the back of rising drill count in the US and Europe and Asia's opposition to the US sanctions against Iran. 

The price of global benchmark Brent futures reached $76.79 per barrel (pb) on Monday, edging down 0.4% from their last trading session, while the US Nymex crudes traded at $70.44 pb, 0.3% lower their last close.

The US oil drill count gained 10 oil rigs during the week ended May 11, totalling to a three-year high of 844, Baker Hughes noted on Friday.

Global oil markets are likely to see the disappearance of about a million barrels of oil per day if the US sanctions on Iran bite, Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at futures brokerage AxiTrader told Reuters. 

However, this impact is not certain, as Germany has pledged to protect its companies from the sanctions, he said.

In the same vein, Iran has said that the Chinese firms are ready to bridge the gap created by the withdrawal of French oil and gas giant Total from its fields after the US sanctions, the news agency reported, citing the chief market strategist.

By 7:58 am GMT, Nymex futures dropped 0.55% to $70.31 pb, while Brent crudes plummeted 0.66% to $76.61 pb.