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Crude-oil futures ended modestly higher Friday, but notched weekly losses that were the steepest since January for New York-traded oil.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November rose 5 cents, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $85.82 a barrel. For the week, the commodity was off 4.4%, its worst weekly performance, in percentage terms, since the week ending Jan. 3. November Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose 16 cents, or 0.2%, to end at $90.21 a barrel. Brent lost 2.3% on the week, its third consecutive weekly loss. Global oil prices have been falling on ongoing concerns that supplies far outstrip demand, with contributing factors including high U.S. oil production, a surge in Libyan oil output, a seasonal peak in refinery maintenance, and weak consumption in Asia and Europe.
The small uptick Friday came after both benchmarks traded at multiyear lows on the previous session. “The price slide has doubtless become more speculative in nature of late as the deteriorating global economic outlook, growing risk aversion and ample supply prompt more and more market players to bet on falling prices,” analysts with Commerzbank said in a note.
Ongoing U.S. dollar strength, which has pressured commodities markets across the board, has also weighed on oil prices. Investors are now looking to the November meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries for potential supply cuts to balance the market.
Elsewhere in energy markets, gasoline for November delivery fell 1.74 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $2.2575 a gallon on Nymex. That was the lowest settlement for a front-month gasoline contract since November 2010. Gasoline lost 5.1% on the week.