Oil prices are poised to register their second consecutive weekly decline as they continued to fall on Friday due to worries about global demand and doubts surrounding a potential nuclear deal between the United States and Iran.
Brent crude futures dropped by 35 cents, or 0.5%, to reach $75.61 per barrel as of 0304 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped by 35 cents, or 0.5%, to reach $70.94. Analysts, such as Satoru Yoshida from Rakuten Securities, anticipate that oil prices will remain within a range of approximately $3 above and below $70 for WTI in the near future.
On Thursday, both benchmarks experienced a decline of around $1, recovering from earlier losses of over $3, after the U.S. and Iran refuted a report by the Middle East Eye suggesting that they were nearing a nuclear agreement.
These developments are contributing to a potential weekly loss of about 1% for oil prices, following a similar decline in the previous week. Despite an initial increase earlier in the week due to Saudi Arabia’s commitment to significant output cuts, prices retreated due to an upsurge in U.S. fuel stocks and weak Chinese export data.
