Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 fell to $49.74 per barrel, at 1327 GMT, down 80 cents, after trading as low as $49.61.

"Growth is expected to rebound in 2016, supported by exchange rate depreciation and accommodative monetary and fiscal policies, but uncertainty about oil prices, challenges in sustaining the global recovery, and elevated domestic vulnerabilities suggest risks to the outlook are tilted to the downside," the IMF said.

OPEC predicted that the global oil market will be more balanced in the second half of this year as demand rises and rival supplies falter, echoing views expressed by ministers at the group’s meeting this month.

U.S. Rig Count is up 4 rigs from last week to 414, with oil rigs up 3 at 328, gas rigs up 3 to 85, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1. Canadian Rig Count is up 24 rigs from last week to 65, with oil rigs up 16 to 29, gas rigs up 8 to 36.

ONGC Videsh Ltd. signed a $1.16 billion nine-month bridge loan on May 19 to fund the purchase of a 15 percent stake in Vankor field in Siberia from Russia’s Rosneft OAO, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Indian Oil Corp. plans a $1.2 billion fundraising for Russian investments in three or four months, including short- and long-term loans, Finance Director A.K. Sharma said in an interview on Wednesday. The average margin over benchmark rates on non-rupee loans for Indian refiners and explorers was 74 basis points this year, the lowest since 2006, the data show.

Oil companies BP (BP.L) and Det norske (DETNOR.OL) have agreed to merge their Norwegian businesses in a $1.3 billion all-share deal to cut costs, challenge Statoil's (STL.OL) dominance of the local industry and look for more acquisitions.

“There are still no fundamental factors for growth in oil prices,” Siluanov said. “We should plan our financial resources on that basis.”

The Indonesian government has proposed to the parliament revising down the country's 2016 crude oil production target by 2.4% to 810,000 b/d, from the initial target of 830,000 b/d, as some producers had reduced their output levels due to lower global prices,

As many as 120,000 oil workers will have lost their jobs in Britain by the end of the year compared to mid-2014 when oil prices started declining and unleashed sector-wide cost cuts, the industry's lobby group said on Friday.

Brent crude for August delivery settled at $51.44/bbl on the London market. It was the highest price for front-month Brent since Oct. 9, 2015.