Oil prices drop; Brent on track for first weekly dip in seven

Shafaq News / Oil prices fell on Friday with Brent poised for its first weekly dip in seven weeks as demand for oil products in power generation cooled off amid easing coal and gas prices, while a forecast for a mild U.S. winter also weighed on the market.

Brent crude futures dropped 50 cents, or 0.6%, to $84.11 a barrel at 0645 GMT, extending a $1.21 slump in the previous session.

Brent touched a three-year high of $86.10 on Thursday, but was on track to slip 0.9% in the week, the first weekly dip since Sept. 3.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 49 cents, or 0.6%, to $82.01 a barrel, following a 92-cent loss on Thursday.

Winter weather in much of the United States is expected to be warmer than average, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast.

The market hit multi-year highs earlier in the week on worries about coal and gas shortages in China, India and Europe, which spurred fuel-switching to diesel and fuel oil for power.

U.S. crude found support earlier this week as investors eyed low crude stocks at the major Cushing storage hub in Oklahoma.

U.S. Energy Information Administration data on Wednesday showed crude stocks at Cushing fell to 31.2 million barrels, their lowest level since October 2018.

Source: Reuters