Oil up, but heads for largest weekly loss since March on demand worries
Oil prices extended gains on Friday, but remained on track for their biggest weekly decline since March as travel restrictions to curb the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant are raising concerns about fuel demand.
Brent crude oil futures were up 47 cents at $71.76 a barrel at 0640 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 45 cents to $69.54 a barrel, but both contracts have given up 6% this week, the most since March.
Japan is poised to expand emergency restrictions to more prefectures while China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, has imposed curbs in some cities and cancelled flights, threatening fuel demand.
Daily new COVID-19 cases in the United States have climbed to a six-month high.
“In the short-term oil prices are likely to be stuck in a range-bound environment,” CMC Markets analyst Kelvin Wong said, with WTI trading between $66.30 and $75.70 per barrel.
He said that oil’s upside has also been capped by improving crude supplies in the United States while non-farm payroll data due later on Friday has lent a cautious air to trading.
However, worries over rising tensions between Israel and Iran limited the decline in prices.
Reference: Reuters
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