Oil prices edge higher but set for first weekly drop since August

Oil prices edge higher but set for first weekly drop since August

SINGAPORE - Oil prices edged up on Friday but were headed for their first weekly losses in at least eight weeks after U.S. oil stocks rose more than expected and Iran flagged it was resuming talks with Western powers which could lead to an end to sanctions. Brent crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $84.59 a barrel by 0600 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crudefutures were up 12 cents, or 0.1%, to $82.93 a barrel. "The rally has likely neared its peak and prices, while remaining elevated, will soften in the near term," analysts at Fitch Solutions said in a weekly note on Friday. Both benchmarks, which touched multi-year highs on Monday, were on track to fall about 1% for the week - the first weekly drop in 10 weeks for WTI and the first in eight weeks for Brent. The heat has come out of a two-month rally stoked by tight gas and coal prices in Europe and China which had spurred fuel-switching in power generation to fuel oil and diesel while oil supplies were tight. U.S. oil stocks rose much more than expected in the week to Oct. 22, data from the Energy Information