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Oil prices turned higher Monday on speculation that oil-producing nations might be willing to agree to output cuts to shrink the global glut of crude oil.

An oversupply of crude oil has sent oil prices plunging to six-year lows in recent months, and many market watchers don't expect prices to recover until late 2016 or 2017. The U.S. benchmark dipped below $40 a barrel last week for the first time since 2009.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery recently rose $2.28, or 5.1%, to $47.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are on track for the highest settlement since July.

Brent, the global benchmark, rallied $2.21, or 4.2%, to $52.26 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Both benchmarks entered a bull market during intraday trading, defined as a 20% gain from a recent low. Both contracts are trading up more than 20% from their lows hit Aug. 24.

Trading volumes were lower than usual due to a U.K. holiday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a publication released Monday that it "stands ready to talk to all other producers." The report boosted expectations that the cartel, which has increased production to multiyear highs despite plunging oil prices, might change its stance and be willing to cut output.

Separately, a Kremlin aide said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss "possible mutual steps" to stabilize the global price for oil at a meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in China on Thursday.

OPEC isn't scheduled to meet until Dec. 4 and has rebuffed previous calls for an emergency meeting.

OPEC's statement "that they're willing to work with other countries ... was a big deal," said Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. "That has rallied the market strongly."

Previous attempts in the past 12 months to discuss cooperation with non-OPEC producers have brought no results. The unsuccessful attempts included a November meeting between OPEC members Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and non-members Mexico and Russia.

OPEC did not specify any timing or location for a dialogue with other producers and didn't indicate what it saw as a fair price.

But Iran's oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said Saturday there was a consensus within the group that $80 per barrel was an equitable price—echoing a target previously given by Iraq and Venezuela.

In addition, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Monday that U.S. oil production this year was lower than previously estimated. The newly released federal data confirmed that U.S. oil output has taken a hit from lower oil prices, as new investments have proven uneconomic and some companies have struggled to stay afloat.

The EIA cut its estimates for production in the first five months of the year by between 40,000 and 130,000 barrels a day each month, due to new survey methodology. The largest revisions came in Texas and the Gulf of Mexico.

In addition, the EIA said that June production fell by 100,000 barrels a day to 9.3 million barrels a day, bringing total production in the first half of the year to 9.4 million barrels a day.

The agency also said that U.S. production peaked in April at 9.6 million barrels a day, not in March at 9.7 million barrels a day as previously reported.

The updated data "will encourage more bottom-picking," as traders pile into the market in expectation that production will keep falling, said Olivier Jakob, managing director of oil-advisory firm Petromatrix. "We went through a wave of [production] increase, but now this is starting to come to an end."

Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. said Sunday that it halted production at the Syncrude oil-sands project due to a fire at a processing facility.

The company didn't estimate the volume of lost production. Syncrude's output averaged 207,700 barrels a day in the second quarter.

Canada is the top oil exporter to the U.S., and a drop in Canadian production could lower U.S. crude inventories, boosting prices.

Prices for Canadian synthetic crude for September delivery traded between 65 cents and $2 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark, according to brokerage Net Energy. On Friday, September prices settled at $4.50 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark.

Gasoline futures rose 3.7% to $1.5775 a gallon. Diesel futures rose 3.9% to $1.6381 a gallon.

Oil prices fell to six-year lows last week but then soared Thursday and Friday, in a move most analysts attributed to traders closing out bets on lower prices.

James Marson, Benoî t Faucon and Chester Dawson contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 31, 2015 12:35 ET (16:35 GMT)