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Benchmark Brent crude futures for September delivery rose 78
cents or 1.05% to stand at $75.29 at 0912 GMT. The less-traded
front-month contract, which expires on Friday, was up 91 cents
at $75.25.
The contract was on track for a 6% decline in the three months
to the end of June, marking a fourth straight quarterly decline.
Prices are at their lowest in 2 years.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) rose 65 cents or 0.9%
to $70.51. The contract is down 7% on a quarterly basis, its
second consecutive quarterly drop.
Inflationary pressure and rising interest rates in key economies
and a slower than expected recovery in Chinese manufacturing and
consumption have weighed on markets in recent months.
But signs of strengthening U.S. economic activity and sharp
declines in U.S. oil inventories last week offered support.
Saudi Arabia's plans to cut output by a further 1 million
barrels per day in July in addition to a broader OPEC+ deal to
limit supply into 2024 offers further support.
"Despite the announcements of two fresh rounds of cuts from
OPEC+/Saudi Arabia, crude prices have largely remained below $80
a barrel as the market has been driven less by fundamentals and
more by macroeconomic concerns," HSBC analysts said in a note.
"We think this will continue to be the case for part of the
summer, although the deep deficit of around 2.3 million barrels
forecast for 2H23 should help to spur some upwards price
momentum."
Meanwhile, U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in the first
quarter was revised up to a 2.0% annualised rate from the 1.3%
pace reported previously.
The Federal Reserve is likely to resume its rate-rise campaign
after a break earlier in the month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell
signaled on Thursday after a fresh slew of
stronger-than-expected economic data.
U.S. oil rig count data, an indicator of future supply, will be
released later on Friday.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston and Muyu Xu in
Singapore; editing by Robert Birsel and Jason Neely)
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