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Brent crude <LCOc1> futures were down 52 cents, or 1.1%, at
$44.38 a barrel by 0850 GMT, heading for a 0.9% weekly decline.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude <CLc1> futures were
down 48 cents, or 1.1%, at $42.34 but on track for a weekly gain
of about 0.9%.
The euro zone's economic recovery from its deepest downturn on
record has stuttered this month as the pent-up demand unleashed
by the easing of lockdowns in July has dwindled, a survey showed
on Friday.
In another sign of the sluggish recovery, India's crude oil
imports fell in July to their lowest since March 2010 amid
renewed coronavirus lockdowns and refinery maintenance.
"Demand, in our view, is only likely to near pre-pandemic levels
in 2021 and the rest of 2020 will be a muted struggle while
facing the effects of the second wave," consultancy Rystad
Energy said in a note.
At the same time, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia were focused on
ensuring that members who had overproduced against their
commitments would reduce their output.
Reuters on Thursday reported that an OPEC+ internal report
showed the group wanted oversupply between May and July
compensated for with cuts this month and next. [nL8N2FN2D7]
It also showed OPEC+ expects oil demand in 2020 to fall by 9.1
million bpd, and by as much as 11.2 million bpd if there is a
prolonged resurgence of coronavirus infections in the second
half of the year.
(Additional reporting by Sonali Paul in Melbourne and Koustav
Samanta in Singapore; editing by David Goodman and Jason Neely)
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