Oil prices declined by more than 1% at the end of Friday’s session, recording losses for the third consecutive week, as the market balanced fears of supply shortages against renewed economic concerns in the United States and China.
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Brent crude futures fell 81 cents, to close at $74.17 a barrel.
Oil prices fell by more than 1% at the end of the session, yesterday, Friday, recording losses for the third week in a row, as the market balanced fears of supply shortages against renewed economic concerns in the United States and China.
Brent crude futures fell 81 cents, or 1.1%, to close at $74.17 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell by 83 cents, or 1.2%, and closed at $70.04.
Both benchmarks recorded weekly losses of about 1.5%
The US dollar clung to modest gains against the euro, on Friday, and is heading for its biggest weekly gain since February, as uncertainty over the debt ceiling and US monetary policy led to a shift to safe havens.
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It should be noted that a strong dollar makes oil priced in the US currency more expensive for holders of other currencies
“The lack of confidence in the economy translates into appetite for the safer dollar, and also causes pessimism about oil demand,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York.
Concern grew that the United States – the world’s largest oil consumer – would enter a recession, with talks on the US government’s debt ceiling delayed and concern growing about another regional bank hit by crisis.
Meanwhile, China’s April consumer price data rose at a slower pace than in March, missing expectations, while deepening contraction in factories refocused doubts about their recovery from Covid restrictions that drove oil demand growth. ..
And the market received some support from the expected supply shortage for the second half of this year, even at a time when the Iraqi Oil Minister, Hayan Abdul-Ghani, told “Reuters” yesterday, Friday, that he did not expect “OPEC +” to take a decision on more oil. Production cuts in the coming period during the June 4 meeting in Vienna
Two days ago, an OPEC report revealed that the organization expects demand in the period from July to December for its crude to be 90 thousand barrels per day, higher than previously expected.
2023-05-13 10:07:30
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