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Brent crude oil futures were down 59 cents or 0.6% to $84.83 a
barrel at 1020 GMT, after topping $85 a barrel for the first
time since November on Thursday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
crude were down 56 cents or 0.6% to $80.70.
"Crude futures were staging a mild retreat from fresh four-month
peaks ... likely entering a consolidation phase to await further
direction," said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis
provider Vanda Insights.
Prices had remained range-bound for much of the last month
roughly between $80 to $84 a barrel before the IEA on Thursday
raised its view on 2024 oil demand for a fourth time since
November as Houthi attacks disrupt Red Sea shipping.
World oil demand will rise by 1.3 million bpd in 2024, the IEA
said in its latest report, up 110,000 bpd from last month. It
forecast a slight supply deficit this year should OPEC+ members
sustain their output cuts having previously forecast a surplus.
The gains this week have come despite the U.S. dollar
strengthening at its fastest pace in eight weeks. A stronger
dollar makes crude more expensive for users of other currencies.
Also supporting prices were Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil
refineries, which caused a fire at Rosneft's biggest refinery in
one of the most serious attacks against Russia's energy sector
in recent months.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles also fell unexpectedly last week as
refineries ramped up processing while gasoline inventories
slumped as demand rose, the Energy Information Administration
said on Wednesday.
On the demand side, China's central bank left a key policy rate
unchanged as authorities continued to prioritise currency
stability amid uncertainty over the timing of expected U.S.
Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
Lower interest rates cut consumer borrowing costs, which can
boost economic growth and demand for oil.
In the United States, some signs of slowing economic activity
were seen as unlikely to spur the Federal Reserve to start
cutting interest rates before June as other data on Thursday
showed a larger-than-expected increase in producer prices last
month.
(Additional reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston and
Sudarshan Varadhan in Singapore; editing by Michael Perry and
Jason Neely)
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