Oil prices have gradually risen ahead of the weekend but are set for weekly fall on concerns that slower economic growth worldwide will hurt demand for fuel, even after Saudi Arabia restored full production.
Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 rose $0.28 to $57.99 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose $0.29 to $52.74 a barrel, reported Reuters.
Oanda Singapore senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley was quoted by the news agency as saying: “Asia will probably see some buying emerge over the session as traders hedge potential weekend geopolitical risk, although the session should be quiet with China still on holiday.
“The recovery from the initial sell-off looked more a case of hope rather than reality.”
Brent futures declined 6.3% for the week, while WTI slipped 5.7%.
Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that Saudi Aramco has fully restored oil output after terrorist attacks on its facilities mid-September knocked out more than 5% of oil supply across the globe.
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By GlobalDataANZ Bank said in a note: “The mood wasn’t helped by news that Saudi Arabia has managed a speedy recovery from the recent attacks.”
However, oil prices gained some support on recent data that highlighted a fall in US shale output and drilling activity.
ANZ further added that continued declines in drilling activity has witnessed a monthly growth in US shale oil output, drop from 150 thousand barrels per day (kbpd) to only 50kbpd and likely to linger well next year.