The oil market recorded a marginal boost on Friday amid a week of losses due to a growing glut and ease in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Brent crude futures settled at $61.29 a barrel after chalking up 23 cents or 0.38 per cent and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures finished at $57.54 a barrel after garnering 8 cents or 0.14 per cent.
The market managed the small gains on Friday as it remained impacted by expectations from the International Energy Agency (IEA), which forecast a growing glut.
Also, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to meet again to discuss Ukraine, with the two presidents agreeing to meet at a summit in the next two weeks in Hungary.
This comes as the US pressured India and China to stop buying Russian oil in order to ramp up pressure on Russia’s oil sales amid its war with Ukraine.
Also, the British government imposed sanctions on two top Russian oil firms, Lukoil and Rosneft during the week, as well as sanctions on Chinese refiner Shandong Yulong Petrochemical and port operators Shandong Jingang Port, Shandong Baogang International and Shandong Haixin Port.
The new UK sanctions also target 51 ships, including seven liquefied natural gas tankers, as well as China’s Beihai LNG Terminal, which has been importing gas from Russia, and Nayara, a Russian-owned refinery in Mumbai, India. Nayara, controlled by Russia’s Rosneft, has already been sanctioned by the European Union (EU), and is scrambling to sustain operations.
India and China are the biggest buyers of Russian crude at discounted prices that Moscow has been forced to offer after losing sales to Europe following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The easing in tension is also happening just as a cease-fire agreement to stop fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is underway.
The market also factored in rising trade tensions between the US and China, which added to concerns about an economic slowdown and lower energy demand.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Thursday that US crude inventories increased by 3.5 million barrels last week, to 423.8 million barrels.