Oil prices continued declining on Friday, heading for their third straight weekly loss and extending its longest losing streak in four years, amid easing concern over supply disruptions in the Middle East.
- On the New York Mercantile Exchange, Crude Oil fell 0.39% to trade at $ 102.53 a barrel
- On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent Oil was at $ 108.21 a barrel, down by 0.42%
Supply concerns eased in the Middle East and Africa despite geopolitical tensions in Iraq, Libya and Gaza.
In the Middle East, the insurgency in Iraq is far from resolved, but hasn`t halted oil exports so far. On the supply side, Libyan crude exports appear poised to surge after an agreement between the government and local militias cleared the way for export terminals to open.
In Gaza, tensions between Israel and Hamas have escalated in the past week, but also aren`t threatening any major oil production.
Oil fell sharply in the previous session after data from the Energy Information Administration showed on U.S. commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 2.4 million barrels from the previous week.
While that the total motor gasoline inventories increased by 0.2 million barrels last week. A rise in inventories typically indicates weak demand, sending prices lower.
- NYMEX Gasoline fell 0.19% to trade at $ 295.19
- NYMEX Heating Oil lost 0.21% to trade at $ 288.72
Investors will be looking ahead to second quarter growth data from China next week to assess fuel demand outlook at the world`s second largest consumer.