Oil jumps 1 pct after 2-day fall\, still set for weekly fall

Oil jumps 1 pct after 2-day fall, still set for weekly fall

Reuters  |  TOKYO 

By Aaron Sheldrick

Brent futures rose 89 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $81.15 a barrel by 0455 GMT. The contract fell 3.4 percent on Thursday following sharp falls in equity markets and indications that supply concerns have been overblown.

Brent is still heading for a 3.6 percent decline this week, the biggest drop in about four months.

U.S. Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 75 cents, or 1.1 percent, at $71.72 a barrel, after a 3 percent fall in the previous session. WTI is on track for a 3.5 percent decline this week.

Asian shares found a slightly firmer footing on Friday to set course for their first gains in two weeks, but the rout continued in after Wall Street extended its slide into a sixth session.

Japan's Nikkei was down 0.3 percent on Friday.

On the front, China's imports in September hit their highest level since May, customs data showed on Friday.

Elsewhere, U.S. crude inventories rose by 6 million barrels last week, the said, more than double analysts' expectations of a 2.6 million-barrel increase.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut its forecast of global demand growth for for a third straight month, citing headwinds facing the broader economy from trade disputes and volatile emerging markets.

OPEC sees the as well supplied and is wary of creating a glut next year, the group's said on Thursday.

"We still estimate growing at 1.2 million to 1.5 million barrels per day for this year, and see the risk of a slowdown in 2019 if trade tension escalates," ANZ Research analysts said in a report.

In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, producers had cut output by 40 percent on Thursday due to Hurricane Michael, even as some operators began returning crews to offshore platforms.

Michael crashed ashore on Wednesday as the third most powerful hurricane to strike the U.S. mainland. It has since weakened to a tropical storm.

(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; editing by and Richard Pullin)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Fri, October 12 2018. 11:34 IST