Oil dips, little changed on week despite weaker demand forecasts
Oil prices dipped on Friday and ended the week little changed after weathering concerns from banks and the International Energy Agency that the spread of coronavirus variants is slowing oil demand.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude settled down 72 cents, or 1%, at $70.59 a barrel for the session.U.S. West Intermediate crude settled down 65 cents at $68.44.
For the week, Brent fell less than 1%, after dropping 6% last week, its largest week of losses in four months. Last week WTI slumped nearly 7% in its biggest weekly decline in nine months.
On Thursday, the IEA said demand for crude oil ground to a halt in July and was set to rise at a slower pace over the rest of the year because of surging infections from the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
Major banks Goldman Sachs and JPM Commodities Research are less bullish on oil due to the rising infection rate.
Goldman cut its estimate for the global oil deficit to 1 million barrels per day from 2.3 million bpd in the short term, citing an expected decline in demand in August and September.
However, Goldman expects the demand recovery to continue alongside rising vaccination rates.
JPM, meanwhile, said it now sees the "global demand recovery stalling this month" with demand remaining roughly in line with the 98 million bpd average for global consumption in July.
By contrast, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Thursday stuck to its forecast for a rebound in global oil demand this year and further growth in 2022, notwithstanding the rising concern over surges in COVID-19.
Reference: Reuters
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