Crude slips to another weekly loss

new york — Oil futures edged higher on Friday but ended the week with a loss on renewed concerns about slowing global demand and after the dollar posted its best week in six months.

The market was relatively quiet on Friday, with volume of 575,000 contracts, short of the 200-day average of 597,000 daily contracts traded.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures strengthened 8¢ to settle at $52.72 a barrel but recorded a weekly slump of more than 4 per cent, their steepest this year.

Brent crude futures gained 39¢ to settle at $62.02. On the week, Brent dipped more than 1 per cent. The dollar gained 1.1 per cent against a basket of currencies, its best performance since August, hurting oil, which is priced in dollars and becomes more expensive for non-US buyers when the dollar’s value rises.

The market was supported modestly on Friday by news that the United States and China may still be able to meet a March 1 deadline to resolve specific issues in their trade dispute.

“The US-China [dispute] was the overarching factor, but then it was supported by some of the poor economic data all week that we got out of Europe,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital Management in New York. “It’s showing that there’s a global economic slowdown under way.”

The White House said on Friday that Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would travel to Beijing for principal-level meetings next week, easing concerns that

the deadline would be missed and result in higher tariffs on goods.

The European Commission on Thursday sharply cut its forecasts for eurozone economic growth due to global trade tensions and an array of domestic challenges.

Libya’s National Oil Corp said on Friday its largest oilfield, which has been out of action since December, would remain offline until security was restored.

US energy firms last week increased the number of oil rigs operating for the second time in three weeks, General Electric’s Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its report on Friday. —