Oil futures rose Friday as global investors assessed the next leg for volatile stock markets, but signs of rising crude supplies contributed to an overall weekly loss of roughly 4%.
November West Texas Intermediate crude CLX8, +0.44% rose 41 cents, or 0.6%, at $71.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was poised for a weekly loss about 3.9%. The global benchmark, Brent crude for December delivery LCOZ8, +0.00% on the ICE Europe exchange gained 51 cents, or 0.6%, at $80.77 a barrel, set to post a weekly decline of roughly 4.1%.
Both benchmarks, which were poised to suffer from their first weekly decline in five weeks, shed some 3% Thursday, and Brent briefly dropped below the closely watched $80 line. They were moving in step with a two-day selloff across global stock markets—a severe move that raised some concerns about economic resiliency and eventual energy consumption. Global equities and benchmark U.S. stock indexes moved higher on Friday, however.
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A monthly report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries released Thursday revealed a rise in OPEC and Russian crude-oil production in September, more than making up for a continuing decline in Iranian output ahead of the implementation of U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil industry. Earlier this week, the Energy Information Administration boosted its forecast for U.S. oil production, which added another headwind.
OPEC lowered its global oil demand growth forecast for this year and next, the third month in a row for a downgrade.
On Friday morning, the International Energy Agency shared that view, saying global oil demand will grow at a slower pace than initially expected this year and next amid economic risks stemming from trade tensions and higher oil prices.
"At the heart of this softening oil demand backdrop are a myriad of downward pressures on the global economy," said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at brokerage PVM Oil Associates Ltd. "They include rising trade tensions, Fed policy tightening, and emerging-market weakness."
Back on the supply front, the EIA reported Thursday that domestic U.S. crude supplies climbed by 6 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 5. The increase was much larger than expected, though significantly below the climb of 9.7 million barrels reported Wednesdya by the American Petroleum Institute.
"Supply-side anguish has slinked into the equation as oil traders remain on the defense," said Stephen Innes, Asia-Pacific head of trading at Oanda.
"Indeed, it's hard to sugar coat this week's inventory data, but for perpetual bulls like my self, if risk stabilizes around improving U.S.-China tension, there are some very cheap entry points on offer," he said, noting support near and around $80 Brent.
As for other the petroleum products, November gasoline RBX8, -0.01% gained 0.1%, at $1.935 a gallon. The contract dropped by 4.3% to $1.933 a day earlier—the lowest finish since March. It was down more than 7% for the week. November heating oil HOX8, -0.37% edged down by less than 0.1% to $2.331 a gallon, headed for a weekly loss of 2.6%.
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November natural gas NGX18, -1.37% lost 1.8% to $3.165 per million British thermal units in Friday dealings, but was set to a weekly rise of about 0.8%.
Earlier this week, natural-gas futures climbed to their highest settlement since January. "It has become clear that recent price gains are being driven by lower inventories heading into the peak demand winter season and not by the short-term storm shut-ins" in the Gulf of Mexico due to Hurricane Michael, said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
The EIA on Thursday said supplies of the fuel stood at 2.956 trillion cubic feet for the week ended Oct. 5, 17% below the five-year average.
—Christopher Alessi contributed to this article
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