Oil posted its sixth straight weekly gain, the longest streak in more than a year, after OPEC+ heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia extended supply curbs into next month and US stockpiles sank by a record.
West Texas Intermediate settled above $82 a barrel, taking gains during the six-week span to about 20%. Saudi Arabia said Thursday it would extend its unilateral 1 million barrel-a-day output cut into September and that the move could be prolonged further or even deepened. Russia will extend cuts to its exports into next month, although it tapered the size of the reduction.
The conflict in Ukraine was also in focus after the Caspian Pipeline Consortium said Russian authorities temporarily closed Novorossiysk port for marine traffic after a drone attack. Oil loadings on moored tankers continued, and the port has since reopened, the group said.
Futures in New York are now up for the year on the output reductions by the leaders of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies. An OPEC+ committee meeting Friday affirmed the group’s quota policy and didn’t recommend changes to cuts members are implementing. Meanwhile, US data this week showed the largest-ever drawdown of crude inventories, with holdings plunging by more than 17 million barrels, providing further evidence of a tightening market.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimated this week that global oil consumption swelled to a record in July, outpacing supplies and putting the market in a deficit. ANZ Group Holdings Ltd., meanwhile, said supply cuts were tightening the market and Brent could rally to $100 a barrel by year-end.
Prices:
- WTI for September delivery rose $1.27 to settle at $82.82 a barrel in New York.
- Brent for October settlement advanced $1.10 to settle at $86.24 a barrel.
