There were no changes in oil prices in Friday’s session as the US dollar fell and US jobs reports, but the two benchmarks ended the first week of the year lower on fears of a global recession.
Brent futures fell 12 cents, or 0.2%, to $78.57 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 10 cents, or 0.1%, to 73.77 dollars per barrel.
On a weekly basis, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate fell more than 8%, their largest weekly decline in the past decade.At the beginning of the year from 2016.
Both benchmarks are up about 13% in the previous three weeks.
“The oil market may find some calm again after big changes earlier this week, but upside potential is still limited, at least in the near term,” said Stephen Brennock, analyst at BVM, “The economic outlook they are dark”.
