Oil prices closed higher on Friday, but recorded a weekly loss following news of a potential increase in OPEC+ supply.
Brent crude futures closed 42 cents, or 0.7%, at $64.53 a barrel, while WTI crude oil rose 40 cents, or 0.7%, to $60.88.
Brent crude fell 8.1% this week, its biggest weekly loss in more than three months. WTI, on the other hand, fell 7.4% for the week.
The expected increase in OPEC+ production and the resumption of flow through the northern Iraq pipeline, which has been closed for the past two years, are keeping sellers in the crude market.
Hamas is beginning talks with the Trump administration on a peace plan. It’s difficult to understand what kind of agreement this is. What will Palestinians, confined to certain areas of their own land, living hungry and thirsty, gain from this agreement? Their country has already been invaded. How will the families of the babies who die from starvation be satisfied?
Considering the EIA data released earlier this week, it’s difficult to predict a near-term increase in crude oil prices.
The eight OPEC+ countries are likely to further increase oil production on Sunday. OPEC+ leader Saudi Arabia is demanding a large increase to regain market share, while Russia is proposing a more modest increase.
Potentially higher OPEC+ supply, the slowdown of global crude oil refineries due to maintenance, and the seasonal decline in demand in the coming months will negatively impact market sentiment.
As summer demand draws to a close, demand indicators in the Atlantic Basin have fallen somewhat. The underlying oversupply implied by the October surplus is strengthening.
The oil market is heading for a significant surplus in the fourth quarter and next year, and September is clearly a turning point.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Ministry of Petroleum announced earlier this week that oil will be shipped from Northern Iraq to Türkiye via a pipeline for the first time in 2.5 years on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Trump gave Hamas until Sunday night to accept Israel’s proposal to end its war in Gaza.
According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday, US crude oil, gasoline, and distillate inventories increased last week as refinery activity and demand declined, further negatively impacting prices.
On the supply side, Baker Hughes said producers reduced their oil rig count by two to 422.
A fire broke out overnight at Chevron’s El Segundo refinery on Friday, but a regional official said the blaze was confined to a single area. The refinery, with a capacity of 290,000 barrels per day, is one of the largest on the US West Coast.
Analysts said the impact on oil prices may be limited, although it is not yet clear whether it will have any impact on production.