Investing.com - Crude oil futures revisited levels close to multi-month lows on Friday, as ample global supplies and concerns about a slowdown in demand continued to weigh.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for October delivery slumped 97 cents, or 0.99%, on Friday to settle at $97.11 a barrel by close of trade.
London-traded Brent prices hit $96.83 on Thursday, a level not seen since July 2, 2012.
For the week, the October Brent contract lost $3.71, or 3.67%, the biggest weekly decline since the week ended January 3.
Elsewhere, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in October shed 56 cents, or 0.6%, to end the week at $92.27 a barrel by close of trade on Friday.
On Thursday, Nymex oil prices fell to $90.43, the weakest level since April 24, 2013.
For the week, New York-traded oil futures lost $1.02, or 1.09%, the tenth weekly decline over the past 12 weeks.
Meanwhile the spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $4.84 a barrel by close of trade on Friday, compared to $7.53 in the preceding week.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency all cut their estimates for oil-demand growth earlier in the week, fuelling concerns over a slowdown in global demand.
A broadly stronger dollar also weighed, as expectations for an early hike in U.S. interest rates continued to bolster investor demand.
The Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, ended the week close to a 14-month high.
Oil prices typically weaken when the U.S. currency strengthens as the dollar-priced commodity becomes more expensive for holders of other currencies.
In the week ahead, investors will be focusing on the outcome of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve policy meeting. Fed Chair Janet Yellen was to hold a press conference following the meeting.
The central bank was expected to cut its asset purchase program by another $10 billion, which would keep it on track for winding up the program in October, and to start raising interest rates sometime in mid-2015.
Data from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission released Friday showed that hedge funds and money managers increased their bullish bets in New York-traded oil futures in the week ending September 9.
Net longs totaled 186,612 contracts as of last week, up 7.6% from net longs of 172,357 in the preceding week.