Oil Prices Set for Biggest Weekly Loss in Over a Month on Demand Worries
Oil futures edged lower on Friday and were headed for more than a 6% weekly drop on concerns about demand from China's slowing economy and easing supply risk from the Middle East conflic
Brent crude futures fell 47 cents, or 0.6%, to $73.93 a barrel by 1028 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $70.22 a barrel, down 45 cents, or 0.6%.
The benchmarks are set to fall more than 6% this week, their biggest weekly decline since Sept. 2, after OPEC and the International Energy Agency cut their forecasts for global oil demand in 2024 and 2025.
Fears also eased about a potential retaliatory attack by Israel on Iran that could disrupt Tehran's oil exports.
In China, the world's top oil importer, the economy grew at the slowest pace since early 2023 in the third-quarter, though consumption and industrial output figures for September beat forecasts.
China's refinery output also declined for the third straight month as weak fuel consumption and thin refining margins curbed processing.
Meanwhile, China's central bank rolled out two funding schemes that will initially pump 800 billion yuan ($112.38 billion) into the stock market through newly-created monetary policy tools.
Supporting crude prices were figures from Energy Information Administration (EIA) which showed U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week.
U.S. retail sales increased slightly more than expected in September, with investors still pricing in a 92% chance of a Federal Reserve rate cut in November.
Source : Reuters
