Oil ended flat but suffered sharp weekly losses on tariff and supply pressures
Oil prices steadied on Friday as markets looked ahead to an anticipated meeting between Russian and the US, but both benchmarks posted their steepest weekly declines
Oil prices steadied on Friday as markets looked ahead to an anticipated meeting between Russian and the US, but both benchmarks posted their steepest weekly declines since late June amid renewed tariff threats and rising supply.
Brent crude settled 16 cents higher at $66.59 a barrel.
WTI was unchanged at $63.88. Over the week, Brent lost 4.4% and WTI fell 5.1%.
Prices had retreated earlier in the session after reports that Washington and Moscow were pursuing a deal to end the war in Ukraine, potentially locking in Russian territorial gains. A breakthrough could ease sanctions on Moscow and alter crude trade flows.
The diplomatic overture coincided with escalating trade tensions. The US warned India of higher tariffs if it continued buying Russian oil and signalled that China, Russia’s largest customer, could face similar measures.
On the supply side, OPEC+ agreed to raise September output by 547,000 b/d, completing the rollback of voluntary cuts totalling 2.2 mb/d. The US oil rig count rose by one to 411.
Written: Aiman Haikal