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(Bloomberg) — Oil held losses after dropping below $50 a barrel for the first time since April on signs a global glut that drove prices lower will persist and amid a broader rout in commodities.

Futures were little changed in New York after slumping 1.5 percent Monday. Iran plans to regain market share regardless of the impact on prices, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in Tehran. While U.S. crude stockpiles are forecast to have declined last week, supplies remain almost 100 million barrels above the five-year average for this time of the year.

Oil’s recovery from a six-year low in March has faltered amid speculation the surplus will be prolonged as Iran seeks to bolster shipments, while leading members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries pump at record levels to defend market share. The full impact of higher Iranian exports won’t be felt until 2016, banks including Citigroup Inc. predict.
West Texas Intermediate for August delivery, which expires Tuesday, was at $50 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 15 cents, at 8:17 a.m. Sydney time. The contract dropped as low as $49.85 on Monday before closing at $50.15. The more-active September contract slid 9 cents to $50.35. The volume of all futures traded was about 60 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for September settlement decreased 45 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $56.65 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange on Monday. The European benchmark crude ended the session at a premium of $6.21 to WTI for September.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net Keith Gosman, Andrew Hobbs