After gains of half a percentage point at the start of the Asian session, Brent crude oil futures fell 39 cents, or 0.5%, to $74.59 a barrel at 0253 GMT. U.S. crude futures fell 26 cents, or 0.3%, to $70.65. Both benchmarks have suffered losses of between 3 and 4% over the past two sessions.
For the week, both benchmarks are on track for a slight decline of around 1%, after falling for three consecutive weeks.
“Traders hedged short positions ahead of the weekend, but concerns over a political standoff over the US debt ceiling and growing fears of a regional US banking crisis still capped gains,” he said. said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of Nissan Securities’ NS Trading subsidiary. .
“Furthermore, with concerns lingering over the slow recovery in Chinese fuel demand, the bearish mood in the market is likely to continue into next week,” he added.
Kikukawa said prices would be supported by speculation that the United States could buy back oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if WTI fell to around $70 a barrel.
The US government has said it will buy oil when prices are stable in the range of $67 to $72 a barrel or lower.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday urged Congress to raise the public debt ceiling by $31.4 trillion and avoid an unprecedented default that could lead to a global recession.
Concerns also grew over a regional banking crisis in the United States, after shares of Bacoist Bancorp fell 23% yesterday. The Los Angeles-based bank said its deposits were down and it was looking to boost its liquidity.
Oil markets did not interact much with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) expectations for global oil demand in 2023, which included the expectation of an increase in demand in China, the most largest oil importer in the world.
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