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Brent crude futures settled down 88 cents, or 1.1%, at $82.08 a
barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) fell 92
cents, or 1.2%, at $78.01.
Both benchmarks fell in the week, with Brent down 1.8% and WTI
2.5%.
"While supplies have remained on the tighter side given OPEC's
production cuts and Russian sanctions slowing exports, demand
from China looks to be lagging and U.S. driving season demand
has yet to kick in," said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president
of trading at BOK Financial.
China earlier this week set an economic growth target for 2024
of around 5%, which many analysts say is ambitious without much
more stimulus.
China's imports of crude oil rose in the first two months of the
year compared with the same period in 2023, but they were also
weaker than the preceding months, data showed on Thursday,
continuing a trend of softening purchases by the world's biggest
buyer.
On the supply side, OPEC+ members led by Saudi Arabia and Russia
agreed on Sunday to extend voluntary oil output cuts of 2.2
million barrels per day into the second quarter, giving extra
support to the market amid concerns over global growth and
rising output outside the group.
However, crude production in OPEC+ countries increased by
212,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February over January output,
according to Rystad Energy data and research.
Meanwhile in the U.S., energy firms this week cut the number of
oil rigs - an indicator of future production - by two to 504
this week, their lowest since Feb. 23, energy services firm
Baker Hughes said.
Oil markets have homed in on signals on the timing of possible
rate cuts in the U.S. and European Union in the previous two
sessions. Lower interest rates could increase oil demand by
boosting economic growth.
U.S. job growth rose by 275,000 new nonfarm payrolls in
February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, beating
expectations of a 200,000 rise according to a Reuters survey.
But the unemployment rate also rose and wage growth decelerated,
indicating that the U.S. economy could be slowing which kept on
the table an anticipated interest rate cut in June from the
Federal Reserve.
The data suggests "a less tight job market, supporting the soft
landing narrative and increasing the odds of a June rate cut,"
UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday that
the central bank was "not far" from gaining enough confidence
that inflation is falling sufficiently to begin cutting interest
rates.
The European Central Bank (ECB) will likely start lowering
interest rates some time between April and June, French central
bank head and ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said.
Money managers raised their net long U.S. crude futures and
options positions in the week to March 5, the U.S. Commodity
Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston, Robert Harvey in
London, Katya Golubkova in Tokyo and Emily Chow in
SingaporeEditing by David Gregorio, Marguerita Choy and Ros
Russell)
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