Oil on Friday closed lower as US President Donald Trump’s administration escalated trade tensions with China in a protracted dispute that has imperiled world energy demand.
Futures fell almost 1 percent in New York after seesawing earlier.
In the latest salvo in the trade war between the world’s biggest economies, US government officials are considering caps on US money flows into China, a measure with major implications for billions of US dollars in investments, people familiar with the deliberations said.
Earlier in the session, crude bounced off a low not seen since before the Sept. 14 attacks on Saudi Arabian oil installations.
Trump on Friday said on Twitter that he rebuffed Iran’s request for sanctions relief in exchange for negotiations.
“That would mean little hope of Iranian oil returning to the market any time soon,” Price Futures Group Inc senior market analyst Phil Flynn said by telephone.
Prices ended the week 3.8 percent lower, weighed down by Saudi Arabia’s quick recovery of oil output following aerial attacks that rocked global energy markets.
The kingdom’s production had reached 9.8 million barrels per day, which is about the same level as before the attacks, Dow Jones reported, citing unnamed officials.
West Texas Intermediate for November delivery settled US$0.50 lower at US$55.91 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent for the same month dropped US$0.83 to settle at US$61.91 on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange, a US$6 premium to West Texas Intermediate. The contract ended the week 3.7 percent lower.
Saudi Arabia has agreed to a limited ceasefire in parts of Yemen and diplomatic efforts were under way to expand the truce, a Yemeni government official and a diplomat said.
Houthi rebels embroiled in the war in Yemen said that they launched the attacks on Saudi Arabian infrastructure, although the US and other powers have blamed Iran.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline fell US$0.01 to US$1.65 per gallon and heating oil declined US$0.02 to US$1.94 per gallon, while natural gas fell US$0.01 to US$2.40 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold fell US$8.80 to US$1,499.10 per ounce and silver fell US$0.26 to US$17.55 per ounce, while copper rose US$0.02 to US$2.58 per pound.
Additional reporting by AP
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