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Investing.com -- Oil prices rose Friday, finding some support as a difficult week comes to end, as market attention turns to a key meeting of OPEC and its allies later this month.
By 09:35 ET (13.35 GMT), the U.S. crude futures traded 1% higher at $76.52 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 1% to $80.84 a barrel.
However, both contracts are on course to fall about 5% on the week, which would be the third straight week of steep losses.
OPEC meeting in focus
The crude market has received some help from comments from the Saudi energy minister, when he suggested on Thursday that oil demand remains healthy and that the move lower in oil prices has been driven by speculators rather than fundamentals.
He added that increased exports from the Middle East does not reflect increased output, but rather a seasonal trend as stronger summer demand in the Middle East eases.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, or OPEC+ as the group is known, meet on Nov. 26 to set production policy, and focus will be on whether Saudi Arabia extends a 1 million barrel-per-day voluntary cut set to expire at the end of this year.
Demand concerns rise on weak economic data
Crude prices saw a series of steep losses this week, following a string of disappointing economic readings from top importer China, as well as the euro zone.
Hawkish signals from Federal Reserve officials also weighed, especially as the dollar rebounded on renewed expectations of U.S. interest rates remaining higher for longer. Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated this outlook when speaking on Thursday, and also warned that rates had more room to rise.
This was also accompanied by data showing a massive weekly jump in U.S. crude stockpiles, as domestic production ramped up.
Crude markets have also been hit as diminished concerns over the Israel-Hamas war saw traders pricing in a smaller risk premium from the conflict, which did not appear to be disrupting oil supply from the Middle East.
“We believe that the scale of the sell-off in oil is exaggerated given that fundamentals are still tight at least in the short term. However, fundamentals are not as bullish as originally anticipated with Russian oil exports edging higher, whilst refinery margins have also been weakening,” said analysts at ING, in a note.
The week concludes, as usual, with the release of the Baker Hughes oil rig count as well as CFTC net positioning data later in the session.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
