Oil futures slipped a bit on Friday as rising COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and Europe heightened worries about demand for crude, but prices finished higher for the week, partly due to assurances from OPEC+ that it remains committed to production cuts.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery fell 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $40.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices for the front-month contract, which expires at Tuesday’s settlement, posted a weekly rise of 0.7%.
December Brent crude, the global benchmark, lost 23 cents, or 0.5%, to $42.93 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. Brent saw a 0.2% weekly climb.
MarketWatch reported the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, together known as OPEC+, seem “to have comforted markets that they are leading the oil market to balance,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a market update.
Oil prices found support for the week after Saudi Arabia and Russia reportedly reiterated their commitment to the OPEC+ production cut agreement.
That raised expectations that “the alliance might take further action to either address some of its members’ undercompliance or re-evaluate its plan to boost production again from January,” said Paola Rodriguez-Masiu, senior oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy. “If these hopes prove futile then prices may be in danger again next week after the OPEC+ meeting.”
The Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee, or JMMC, which monitors compliance with production cuts, is scheduled to meet on Monday.
Source: MarketWatch
