Crude oil prices are on course for their third weekly loss due to worries regarding oversupply and escalating trade disputes between the US and China.

Brent futures, the international benchmark, rose 27 cents, or 0.4%, to $72.85 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures jumped 29 cents, or 0.4%, trading at $69.79, Reuters reported.

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Brent is destined to fall 3.3% and WTI is expected to post a weekly fall of 1.8%.

Prices fell over oversupply concerns as some production returned after disruptions.

Investors are wary of the Sino-US trade spat pulling down global economic growth.

However, markets shot up on 20 July as Saudi Arabia moved to address oversupply concerns.

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“Markets are now nervous, not only about a trade war, but also a currency war.”

OANDA APAC trading head Stephen Innes was quoted by the news agency as saying: “Risk sentiment is wobbling, which I believe is attributed to PBOC pushing the RMB complex lower via the fix.

“Markets are now nervous, not only about a trade war, but also a currency war.”

The US and China are the world’s two biggest oil users and a lower demand as a result of the trade war is likely to weigh heavily on oil markets.

According to the BP Statistical Review of Energy, the US accounted for around 20% of global oil demand last year, while Chinese consumption stood at around 13%.

Prices gained support from comments from Saudi Arabia that it would cut crude shipments by roughly 100,000bpd next month as it does not want to flood the market with supplies, Reuters cited the kingdom’s OPEC governor Adeeb Al-Aama as saying.

Al-Aama said: “Despite the international oil markets being well balanced in the third quarter, there will still be substantial stock draws due to robust demand and seasonality factors in the second half.”