Signs of a slowdown in U.S. exploration and production and moves outside North America to consider market conditions pushed crude oil prices upward Monday.

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark for crude oil prices, moved up about 1 percent in early Monday trading to hit $46.21 per barrel. The global benchmark, Brent, rallied 2 percent at the start of trading in New York to sell for $49.14 per barrel.

Crude oil prices started moving below the $100 per barrel mark in mid-2014 as the increase in U.S. crude oil production and a weakening global economy pushed markets toward the supply side. Slow recovery in Europe and signs of a slowdown in Asia added downward pressure to crude oil prices in mid-2015.

Prices recovered somewhat last week after Russian military forces entered the conflict in Syria on the side of its ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad. The White House said Russia was acting from a position of weakness because of the duel economic strains of low crude oil prices and sanctions.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said he was ready to discuss market conditions with members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-member states.

"There have been proposals from some of the OPEC countries, as well as some oil-exporting countries that are not part of OPEC, to discuss the situation on the oil market at the level of experts," he said. "We are ready to participate in such consultations."

Russian President Vladimir Putin in late September said economic planners needed to work to decrease the budget's link to crude oil prices.

Data published last week from oil services company Baker Hughes, meanwhile, show rig counts in the United States are at a five-year low as companies are spending less on exploration and production.