Doha, Qatar: Oil prices rose about 1 percent on Friday, but fell for the week on worries that strong US economic data would keep interest rates elevated for a longer period, curbing fuel demand. The Brent crude July contract rose 76 cents to $82.12 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled 85 cents higher to $77.72, noted Al-Attiyah Foundation in its Weekly Energy Market Review.
For the week, Brent closed down 2.1 percent, WTI settled down 2.8 percent. Worries over Federal Reserve interest rate policy and last week’s bump in US crude oil inventories weighed on market sentiment. Minutes of the Fed’s latest policy meeting released on Wednesday showed policymakers questioning whether interest rates were high enough to tame stubborn inflation. Some officials were willing to raise borrowing costs again if inflation surged.
Consumer sentiment also fell to a five-month low on mounting fears about borrowing costs staying high. At face value, pessimism among households would imply slower consumer spending, though the relationship between the two has been weak. Oil demand is still robust from a broader perspective, analysts at Morgan Stanley wrote in a note, adding they expect total oil liquids consumption to increase by 1.5 million barrels per day this year.
Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices rose for the fourth straight week and hit its highest level in five months amid firm demand, tracking European gas market gains amid concerns over possible disruption to Russian gas supply.
