Hands extracting oil from oil wells in the Permian Basin in Midland, Texas on May 1, 2018.
Benjamin Lowy | Getty Images
Oil prices crept up on Friday after a difficult week, but were still headed for losses of about 4%, hit by a combination of rising broad supply and uncertain future demand.
U.S. crude rose for the first time in four days, gaining 18 cents, or 0.3%, to $54.36 a barrel by 0339 GMT. The obligation was set for a weekly loss of more than 4%.
Brent crude was up 5 cents, or 0.1%, at $59.67 a barrel, leaving it on track for a sack of nearly 4%.
Worries over global economic growth, along with oil demand, continue to haunt the market as conductors from the United States and China struggle to end a 16-month dispute that has roiled trade between the world’s top two economies.
“Regards about the U.S.-China trade dispute have come home to roost,” said Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific store strategist at AxiTrader.
The market received some respite from a run of poor economic data after an unexpected go in a private sector survey of Chinese manufacturing activity on Friday, which contrasted with the dour results of an stiff survey Thursday.
Japanese factory activity, however, sank to more than a three-year low in October, data showed on Friday, in a new warning sign for the world’s third-largest economy.
U.S. crude inventories rose by 5.7 million barrels in the week to Oct. 25, diminishing analyst expectations for an increase of just 494,000 barrels.
A Reuters survey showed that oil prices are likely to oddments under pressure this year and next. The poll of 51 economists and analysts forecast Brent crude intention average $64.16 a barrel in 2019 and $62.38 next year.
Meanwhile, U.S. crude production soared nearly 600,000 barrels per day in August to a history of 12.4 million, buoyed by a 30% increase in Gulf of Mexico output, according to government data released on Thursday.
Those copies came as a Reuters survey found output from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) recovered in October from an eight-year low, with a instantaneous recovery in Saudi Arabian production from attacks on oil plants more than offsetting losses in Ecuador and unsolicited curbs under a supply pact.