Doha: Oil prices rose over 2% on Friday as the International Energy Agency said the market was tighter than it appears, while U.S. tariffs and possible further sanctions on Russia were also in focus.
Brent crude futures settled up $1.72 at $70.36 a barrel. US WTI crude gained $1.88 to $68.45 a barrel, noted Al-Attiyah Foundation in its Weekly Energy Market Review.
For the week, Brent rose 3%, while WTI had a weekly gain of around 2.2%. The IEA said the global oil market may be tighter than it appears, with demand supported by peak summer refinery runs to meet travel and power generation.
US energy firms last week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for an 11th straight week, energy services firm Baker Hughes said.
Although oil prices remain supported in the short term, the potential for OPEC+ to rapidly and significantly increase output raises the risk of a substantial oversupply, analysts said.
Further adding support to the short-term price outlook, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia will compensate for overproduction against its OPEC+ quota this year in the August-September period.
Another sign of robust short-term demand was the prospect of Saudi Arabia shipping about 51 million barrels of crude oil in August to China, the biggest such shipment in more than two years.
On Thursday, both benchmark futures contracts lost more than 2% as investors worried about the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on global economic growth and oil demand.
Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices edged higher last week as a heatwave in Japan and South Korea spurred cooling demand, while industrial demand in China remained subdued.
The average LNG price for August delivery into north-east Asia was at $12.90 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), up from $12.70 per mmBtu last week, industry sources estimated.
Prices rose last week, driven by a heatwave in northeast Asia, where Seoul experienced its hottest day since 2018.
As a result, stockpiles in both South Korea and Japan are being drawn down to meet heightened cooling demand.
