Crude oil prices climb for fifth week on supply concerns – The Peninsula

Crude oil prices climb for fifth week on supply concerns – The Peninsula

Oil prices slid for a second day in a row on Friday, pressured by an unexpected rise in US crude and fuel inventories while investors took profits after the benchmarks touched seven-year highs earlier last week. Brent futures fell 49 cents, or 0.6 percent, to settle at $87.89 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 41 cents, or 0.5 percent, to settle at $85.14. However, both crude benchmarks rose for a fifth week in a row, gaining around 2 percent last week. Prices were up more than 10 percent so far this year on concerns over tightening supplies. The latest pullback is most likely due to a combination of pre-weekend profit-taking and the absence of fresh bullish catalysts, according to analysts.