Oil fell weekly amid easing geopolitical concerns and signs of an oil glut
Oil prices made small gains on Friday but are at risk of a weekly loss of around 3% after the IEA forecast a growing oil glut and Trump and Putin agreed to meet again to discuss Ukraine.
Brent crude futures closed up 23 cents, or 0.38%, at $61.29 a barrel. WTI crude futures closed up 8 cents, or 0.14%, at $57.54 a barrel.
Trump and Putin agreed on Thursday to a new summit, hosted by Hungary, to discuss the war in Ukraine and sanctions within the next two weeks.
This constructive move follows the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which at least temporarily ended the Gaza conflict.
Trump has demanded from the White House more military support for Ukraine, including US-made long-range Tomahawk missiles. Washington is pressuring India and China to halt purchases of Russian oil.
This week's decline was partly due to escalating trade tensions between the US and China, which have fueled concerns about an economic slowdown and low energy demand. It is eroding confidence in the US economy.
On Friday, a fire at BP Plc's refinery in Whiting, Indiana, overnight is expected to affect only the Midwest market, with markets around the Great Lakes expected to rise.
Following the BP refinery fire, Great Lakes spot gasoline prices rose overnight, potentially causing price volatility. Currently, wholesale prices are expected to increase by about 20 cents per gallon.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has been limiting crude oil prices due to a growing oversupply forecast in 2026. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Thursday that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 3.5 million barrels last week to 423.8 million barrels, well above analysts' expectations of a 288,000-barrel increase.
The larger-than-expected increase in crude oil inventories was largely due to reduced refining utilization as refineries expanded capacity in the fall.
The data also showed that U.S. production rose to a record 13.636 million barrels per day.
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