Oil Posts Weekly Gain as Saudi Warning Lingers Over Market
- Fed officials drop hints of rate hikes that could slow demand
- Saudi remarks on restricting supply haunt traders into weekend
Oil has lost almost a quarter of its value since early June on intensifying concerns over a global economic slowdown, but seems to have found a floor around $90 a barrel this month.
Photographer: Alex Kraus/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Oil rose this week with Saudi Arabia’s warning that supply cuts may be warranted overshadowing multiple bearish developments.
West Texas Intermediate futures settled at $93.06 a barrel on Friday for a 2.5% weekly gain. Prices have been buoyed since the Saudi oil minister said the OPEC+ alliance may limit production to stabilize a volatile market. Meanwhile, the US central bank probably will continue raising interest rates to combat inflation, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled. Higher rates are typically seen as damaging to energy demand.