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Oil rises 2% but posts weekly loss on recession fears

Published 07/07/2022, 08:41 PM
Updated 07/08/2022, 03:22 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The chimneys of the Total Grandpuits oil refinery are seen just after sunset, southeast of Paris, France, March 1, 2021.  REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The chimneys of the Total Grandpuits oil refinery are seen just after sunset, southeast of Paris, France, March 1, 2021. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices rose about 2% in volatile trade on Friday but were still heading for a weekly decline as investors worried about a potential recession-driven demand downturn even as global fuel supplies remained tight.

Central banks around the world are raising interest rates to tame inflation, spurring fears that rising borrowing costs could stifle growth, while mass COVID-19 testing in Shanghai this week caused worries about potential lockdowns that could also hit oil demand.

Brent crude futures rose $2.37, or 2.3%, to settle at $107.02 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.06, or 2%, to settle at $104.79 a barrel. Both benchmarks traded in negative territory and then rebounded from session lows.

Brent posted a weekly decline of about 4.1% and WTI a loss of 3.4%, following on from the first monthly decline since November. Prices tumbled on Tuesday, when Brent's $10.73 drop was the contract's third-biggest daily fall since it started trading in 1988.

U.S. non-farm payrolls data showed the economy added more jobs than expected in June, a sign of persistent labor market strength that gives the Federal Reserve ammunition to deliver another 75-basis-point rate hike this month.

"The oil market is looking at the jobs report as a double-edged sword," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group. "The jobs number was positive from a demand perspective. On the bearish side, the market is concerned that if the jobs market is strong, the Fed can be more aggressive with raising rates."

U.S. energy firms this week added two oil rigs, bringing the total to 597, highest since March 2020, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said.

Oil prices soared during the first half of 2022. Brent neared the record high of $147 after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February, adding to supply concerns.

"Economic worries may have roiled oil prices this week, but the market is still flashing bullish signals. This is because supply tightness is more likely to intensify from this point than to ease," said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The chimneys of the Total Grandpuits oil refinery are seen just after sunset, southeast of Paris, France, March 1, 2021.  REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

Western bans on Russian oil exports have supported prices and sparked a re-routing of flows while the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allied producers struggle to deliver on pledged production increases.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West that continued sanctions against Moscow risked triggering "catastrophic" energy price rises for consumers around the world.

Latest comments

Putin says new sanctions will be catastrophic for energy markets https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-08/putin-says-new-sanctions-would-be-catastrophic-for-energy-market
Long time we haven't had the "recession fears" in a title...
And then: "Investing.com – Oil was up on Friday morning in Asia on worries over tight global supplies."
It really is ridiculous, isn't it? If there is some specific event that clearly causes a market reaction (like Yen falls on Abe assassination), the headline writers really should stop trying to attribute a cause to transitory market moves. Something like Oil Down for the Week is perfectly sufficient and would avoid the multiple contradictory headlines in a day.
So is going up today 🤣
who the ********keeps writing this ****on here??? "Dow down on recession fears." What kind of news ****is this and where are you getting your sources????
Buck. Media doesn't want us to think and feel our own emotions. They want us to think & feel what they want us to think and feel. Which is an extraordinarily unhealthy thing to do to people. And, I bet most of them treat their pets better than that.
You are exactly right. I was on the Media conference call last night and everybody except for Jimmy Kimmel agreed that we all want to make sure nobody feels their own emotions. Then we took our pets our for dinner.
The usual inflammatory headline from Reuters. It should read flat to slightly down. How do they know how investors are feeling? They don't. But never let the truth get in the way of what you want to print.
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