Oil prices post weekly loss on recession fears: Al Attiyah Foundation – The Peninsula

Oil prices post weekly loss on recession fears: Al Attiyah Foundation – The Peninsula

Doha: Oil prices settled higher on Friday, recouping some of last week’s losses on strong US job growth data, but closed the week at their lowest levels since February, rattled by worries a recession could hit fuel demand.

Brent crude settled up 80 cents to $94.92 a barrel, 13.7 percent off last Friday’s settlement. US West Texas Intermediate crude settled up 47 cents to $89.01, off 9.7 percent in the week.

Oil traders fretted about inflation, economic growth and demand, but signs of tight supply kept a floor under prices. Supplies were still relatively tight, with prompt prices still higher than those in future months, a market structure known as backwardation.

The Opec+ producer group agreed last week to raise its oil output goal by 100,000 barrels per day in September, but this was one of the smallest increases since such quotas were introduced in 1982, Opec data showed.

Supply concerns were expected to ratchet up closer to winter, with European Union sanctions banning seaborne imports of Russian crude and oil products set to take effect on December 5. In the US, the number of oil rigs, an early indicator of future output, fell seven to 598 in the week to August 5, the