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Crude fell this week on OPEC+'s Sunday decision to phase out
some oil output cuts from October and as rising U.S. inventories
spurred concern about demand, despite a rally on Thursday helped
by the Saudi and Russian comments.
Coming up is the latest U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for May at
1230 GMT, which could shed more light on the timing of U.S.
Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year. Lower rates spur
economic growth and thereby oil demand.
Brent crude futures edged up 26 cents, or 0.3%, to $80.13 a
barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 12
cents, or 0.2% to $75.67 as of 1030 GMT.
"Having recovered from an overcooked selloff earlier in the
week, crude oil is now treading water ahead of the U.S. jobs
report. As expected OPEC+ members have come out in verbal
support of the oil market," said Ole Hansen of Saxo Bank.
"The general level of risk appetite following the jobs report
will likely determine the direction of oil ahead of the
weekend."
Chinese data on Friday showed exports grew for a second month in
May while imports data underlined concerns about weak domestic
demand, and also that crude oil imports fell. China is the
world's largest crude oil buyer.
"Exports handsomely beat expectations," said Tamas Varga of oil
broker PVM. "But worryingly for oil, overall imports were again
down."
The European Central Bank went ahead with its first interest
rate cut since 2019 on Thursday, prompting analyst expectations
of the Fed following suit.
Nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 185,000 jobs last month
after rising by 175,000 in April, according to a Reuters survey
of economists. That gain would be below the average of 242,000
seen in the prior three months.
(Additional reporting by Brijesh Patel in Singapore and Katya
Golubkova; editing by Jason Neely and Louise Heavens)
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