Oil records a second consecutive weekly loss after a volatile trading week
Oil prices rose on Friday, but recorded a second straight week of losses after a volatile trading week in a tight market, where the Russian supply gap was not easy to cover.
Brent crude futures rose $1.29, or 1.2%, to $107.93 a barrel, a day after posting nearly 9% gains in its biggest daily percentage gain since mid-2020.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled at $104.70, up $1.72 a barrel, or 1.7%, on top of the 8% gain in the previous session.
Both benchmark contracts closed the week down around 4% after trading in the $16 range. Prices hit a 14-year high about two weeks ago, spurring profit-making operations ever since.
Although some signs of progress emerged earlier in the week, Russia said no agreement had yet been reached after the fourth day of talks with Ukraine.
Expectations for a Ukrainian/Russian ceasefire or agreement have dwindled, as Russia's military attacks on key cities continue to propose additional financial sanctions against Russia.
With the increasing supply tightness of traders avoiding the Russian product, the decline of oil stocks accelerated. However, rising COVID-19 cases in China and the stumbling nuclear talks with Iran have added to market concerns about demand and put pressure on crude oil prices.
Volatile prices have alienated some investors from the oil market, which could exacerbate price volatility.
Meanwhile, sources said that the production of the OPEC+ producer group in February remained below the targets compared to the previous month. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that oil markets could lack of 3 million barrels of Russian oil a day from April.
US oil producers have also shown a significant contraction since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. According to Baker Hughes, US energy firms cut the number of oil wells active in the country by three this week to 524.
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