Oil prices settled slightly lower on Friday but recorded a weekly gain as Middle East tensions and disruptions to oil output offset concerns about the Chinese and global economies.
Brent futures settled 54 cents lower at $78.56 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 67 cents to settle at $73.41.
For the week, Brent gained about 0.5% while the U.S. benchmark rose over 1%.
In China, slower-than-expected economic growth in the fourth quarter raised doubts about forecasts that demand there will drive global oil growth in 2024.
“The Chinese equity market this week dropped to near a five-year low,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Bank. The indication for weaker demand drove crude prices down on Friday.
Meanwhile in the Middle East, geopolitical risks supported prices for the week.
On Friday, tensions escalated in Gaza as Israeli forces pushed south against Hamas militants, while earlier in the week, the U.S. launched new strikes against Houthi anti-ship missiles aimed at the Red Sea.
Although conflict in the Middle East has not shut any oil production, supply outages continued in Libya.
In the U.S., about 30% of oil output in North Dakota, the country’s third largest producing state, remained shut due to extreme cold, the state’s pipeline authority said on Friday.
Output had been cut by some 700,000 bpd, or more than half, midweek.
It could take a month for production to return to normal levels, the state regulator said on Friday.
Reuters
