Oil prices are on their way to record a weekly rise

Oil prices rose on Friday and were on track to record new weekly gains, supported by strong demand for fuel in the United States, although new measures to combat Covid-19 in Shanghai and Beijing limited the gains.

Brent crude rose 98 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $124.05 a barrel by 1153 GMT and US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 82 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $122.33 a barrel.

Crude prices are generally rising over the past two months, and Brent crude is heading to record gains for the fourth consecutive week, while US crude is heading towards recording the seventh consecutive weekly increase.

Peak fuel demand in the summer in the United States pushed gasoline prices close to five dollars a gallon.

Oil prices also received additional support from fears of possible supply disruptions in Europe and Africa.

Two oil engineers in the Sarir oil field in Libya said on Friday that the field’s production decreased after the closure of the Ras Lanuf and Es Sider ports and with a threat from one of the groups to close the Hariga port.

It also seemed that the prospects of reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran and lifting US sanctions imposed on its oil sector were declining, which supported the increase in oil prices.

Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that Iran on Thursday dealt a near-deadly blow to the chances of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal after it began removing all monitoring equipment installed by the agency under the agreement.

Oil prices fell by more than a dollar earlier in the session on Friday amid new closures in China.

Shanghai and Beijing returned to COVID-19 alert status on Thursday after parts of Shanghai, China’s largest economic hub, imposed new lockdown restrictions and the city announced a round of mass testing of millions of residents.

China’s imports of crude oil rose about 12 percent in May on an annual basis, as they were low at the same time a year ago.