Oil headed for its biggest weekly loss in a month as persistent concerns over demand weigh on the market ahead of an OPEC+ meeting.
West Texas Intermediate futures traded above $70 a barrel Friday, and are more than 3% lower for the week. OPEC+ gathers over the weekend to discuss the group’s production policy against the backdrop of a lackluster economic recovery from China, despite the end of the nation’s Covid Zero regime.
Most market watchers expect OPEC+ to keep output levels unchanged, although the group did unveil surprise cuts in April and Saudi Arabia’s energy minister recently warned speculators to “watch out.” Crude is down around 13% this year, in part due to resilient crude exports from Russia.
US crude stockpiles rose by about 4.5 million barrels last week, while supplies at the key storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, expanded for a sixth week, according to Energy Information Administration data released Thursday.
