Oil prices settle higher, but post weekly losses

New York, U.S. | Xinhua | Oil prices rose on Friday, but declined for the week.

The West Texas Intermediate for December delivery added 76 cents to settle at 83.57 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for December delivery increased 6 cents to close at 84.38 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

For the week, the U.S. crude bench mark lost 0.2 percent, while Brent dipped 1.3 percent, based on the front-month contracts.

“The sharp rise in U.S. crude oil stocks and the expectation of nuclear talks being resumed with Iran have temporarily eased concerns about supply to some extent, leading to profit-taking,” Carsten Fritsch, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said Friday in a note.

“This does nothing to change the tight market situation, however,” he said.

Traders are also awaiting a key meeting by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, as the group is set to meet next week, discussing its plan on crude production.

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Xinhua