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The benchmark Brent and WTI contracts were both on course for
their biggest weekly falls in two years at 13% and 12%,
respectively.
Brent crude futures were down 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $104.65 a
barrel by 1055 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
futures were down 37 cents, or 0.4%, at $99.91.
On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden announced a release of 1
million barrels per day (bpd) for six months, starting in May,
the largest release ever from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum
Reserve (SPR).
Members of the IEA are scheduled to meet at 1200 GMT on Friday
to discuss a further emergency oil release.
Oil prices could reverse course, however, if the release is
scaled back or delayed or if delivered volumes are less than
those mentioned by the White House, consultancy Eurasia Group
said in a note.
OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, on Thursday
stuck with plans for an increase of 432,000 bpd to their May
output target despite Western pressure to add more.
"The looming flood of U.S. barrels does not change the fact that
the market will struggle to find enough supply in the coming
months," PVM analyst Stephen Brennock said.
"The U.S. release pales in comparison to expectations that 3
million bpd of Russian oil will be shut in as sanctions bite and
buyers spurn purchases."
In a sign of bearish signal for demand, China's commercial hub
of Shanghai ground to a halt on Friday after the government
locked down most of the city's 26 million residents aiming to
stop the spread of COVID-19.
(Additional reporting by Sonali Paul in Melbourne and Isabel Kua
in Singapore; editing by Jason Neely)
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