By 1700 GMT, Brent crude futures rose 51 cents, equivalent to 0.71 percent, to $72.11 per barrel, and the most traded December futures contract rose 53 cents to $71.62 per barrel.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 63 cents, or 0.93 percent, to $68.30 per barrel.
On a weekly basis, Brent crude fell by about three percent, while US crude was heading for a loss of approximately five percent.
On Friday, the Chinese Central Bank reduced… Interest rates And injecting liquidity into the banking system with the aim of restoring economic growth to this year’s target of about five percent.
More financial measures are expected to be announced before the holiday season in China, which begins on October 1.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as the OPEC+ alliance, intend to move forward with implementing an increase in production by 180,000 barrels per day starting in December.
The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that this planned increase is due to Saudi Arabia’s decision to abandon the goal of oil prices reaching $100 per barrel and its intention to increase production in order to regain its market share, but the Kingdom has not issued any official statements in this regard.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly denied setting a specific target for the price of oil, and OPEC+ sources told Reuters that plans to increase production in December do not represent any major change from current policy.
Meanwhile, delegations of the two competing legislative bodies in eastern and western Libya signed an agreement yesterday, Thursday, to resolve the crisis in the leadership of the Central Bank.
The conflict caused a sharp decline in the country’s oil production and exports, as crude exports plunged to 400,000 barrels per day this month from more than one million barrels last month.
In a related context, consumer spending rose in the United States in August, indicating that the world’s largest economy continued its momentum in the third quarter as inflationary pressures eased.
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percentage point last week in a move expected to be the beginning of a continued monetary easing cycle.
In terms of geopolitical tension, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that the attacks launched by Israel on the southern suburb of Beirut, on Friday, show that it “does not care” about efforts aimed at reaching a ceasefire.
The increasing tension in the Middle East may pose a threat to global crude oil supplies.
