<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crude oil futures held steady on Friday, with Brent crude futures for August settlement experiencing a slight dip and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for August delivery also edging lower. However, both benchmarks were set to achieve a second consecutive week of over 3% gains, reaching their highest levels in over seven weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This positive momentum is attributed to several factors, including a seasonal increase in demand, as evidenced by recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA report revealed a significant rise in total product supplied, a proxy for U.S. oil demand, and a drawdown in both crude and gasoline inventories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geopolitical tensions also played a role in supporting oil prices. Ukraine’s military reported drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and military installations, while the head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah threatened a full-scale conflict with Israel and even extended the threat to Cyprus. Such escalations raise concerns about potential disruptions to crude oil supply from key producing regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the upward pressure on prices was partially offset by U.S. economic data showing a decline in new unemployment claims. This could lead the Federal Reserve to maintain its current interest rate policy, which may limit economic growth and subsequently dampen oil demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall, the oil market remains dynamic, with a complex interplay of factors influencing prices. While improving demand and geopolitical tensions support higher prices, concerns about potential interest rate hikes and their impact on economic growth create a counterbalance. As the market continues to assess these competing forces, it is likely to remain volatile in the near future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Crude oil futures held steady on Friday, with Brent crude futures for August settlement experiencing a slight dip and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for August delivery also edging lower. However, both benchmarks were set to achieve a second consecutive week of over 3% gains, reaching their highest levels in over seven weeks. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":95641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,36],"tags":[6959,6936,6876],"class_list":["post-102747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-commodities-news","category-market-updates","tag-iea","tag-oil-prices","tag-opec"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102748,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102747\/revisions\/102748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}