By Adedapo Adesanya
The price of Brent futures rose by $1.17 or 1.5 per cent to $79.54 per barrel on Friday, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures grew by $2.02 or 2.7 per cent to $76.78 a barrel after data from the United States showed crude output was declining while fuel demand was growing.
Despite the daily gains, Brent and WTI declined for a second week in a row, with the former posting a fourth straight monthly decline as disappointing US economic data and uncertainty over interest rates weighed on the demand outlook.
The global benchmark declined about 3 per cent this week after falling about 5 per cent last week, while WTI slid about 1 per cent this week after losing about 6 per cent last week.
For the month, Brent slid less than 1 per cent in April, while WTI gained about 1 per cent. That was the first monthly increase in WTI in six months.
The US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Bank of England are all expected to continue raising the key interest rates at their upcoming policy meetings.
The US Federal Reserve’s decision will be announced next week after the May 2-3 rate-setting meeting.
These developments brought oil back to the levels from before the surprise announcement of additional cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) in early April.
This is as fears of recessions returned and underwhelming US consumer and GDP data further weighed on oil prices.
Meanwhile, crude production in the United States fell in February to 12.5 million barrels per day, its lowest since December. Fuel demand rose to nearly 20 million bpd, its highest since November, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
EIA data this week also showed US crude oil and gasoline inventories fell more than expected last week as demand for motor fuel picked up ahead of the peak summer driving season.
The EIA reported an inventory draw of 5.1 million barrels for the week to April 21.
This compared with another draw, of 4.6 million barrels, for the previous week and an estimated 6-million-barrel inventory decline for the week to April 21, as reported by the American Petroleum Institute (API).
Data showed this week that U.S. consumer confidence declined in April, the third drop in consumer confidence in four months.
In addition, US economic growth slowed sharply to 1.1 per cent in the first quarter from 2.6 per cent growth in the fourth quarter, as companies cut down on investments amid rising interest rates and borrowing costs.
Dipo Olowookere