Oil slightly rises, heads for weekly loss

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices edged up slightly on Friday, supported by US inventory data and OPEC+ postponing a planned production increase. However, oil is still on track for a weekly loss amid waning investor sentiment regarding global demand outlook.

Brent crude futures for November delivery — the most active contract — rose slightly by 0.12% to $72.78 a barrel as of 08:17 am KSA time, though they remain down nearly 8% for the week.

Meanwhile, US WTI crude futures for October delivery increased by 0.13%, or 9 cents, to $69.24 a barrel.

The recovery in oil prices came after OPEC+ decided to postpone a planned production increase, which was set to take place at the beginning of October, for two months. The increase will now be implemented gradually, starting from December 1, 2024.

Oil prices were further boosted by data from the American Petroleum Institute, which showed that U.S. crude oil inventories dropped by 6.9 million barrels last week, compared to expectations for a 600,000-barrel decrease.