Oil set for weekly loss on uncertainty over global supply outlook
Oil prices edged lower on Friday, heading for a weekly loss of around 3% after the IEA forecast a growing glut and U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to meet again to discuss Ukraine.
Brent crude futures were down 44 cents, or 0.7%, at $60.62 a barrel at 0826 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were 44 cents lower, down 0.8%, at $57.02.
Trump and Putin agreed on Thursday to another summit on the war in Ukraine, to be held in the next two weeks in Budapest.
The surprise development came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was headed to the White House on Friday to push for more military support, including U.S.-made long-range Tomahawk missiles, while Washington pressured India and China to stop buying Russian oil.
This week’s decline was also partly due to rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China, which added to concerns about an economic slowdown and lower energy demand.
Also weighing on prices was the International Energy Agency’s outlook for a growing supply glut in 2026. The Energy Information Administration said on Thursday that U.S. crude inventories increased by 3.5 million barrels to 423.8 million barrels last week, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 288,000-barrel rise.
The bigger-than-expected build in crude inventory was largely due to lower refining utilization as refineries go into autumn turnarounds.
The data also showed a rise in U.S. production to 13.636 million barrels per day, the highest on record.
In the previous session, Brent settled 1.37% lower and U.S. WTI closed down 1.39%, their lowest since May 5.
Source : Reuters.com
