Contract settlement
Crude futures fell Brent 39 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $74.49 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 3 cents, or 0.04 percent, to $71.92, according to Reuters data.
Prices were affected by signs of a slowdown. Economy in Chinathe main consumer of basic commodities.
But on a weekly basis, both benchmarks rose about 4 percent.
Prices recovered after Brent fell below $69 for the first time in about three years on September 10.
Prices rose more than 1 percent on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percentage point.
Lowering interest rates usually boosts economic activity and demand for EnergyBut some analysts are concerned about the weakness of the US labor market.
“The price cuts are a sign of the strength of the market,” said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS. Interest US supported risk appetite and weakened Dollar Crude supported this week.
“But it takes time for interest rate cuts to support economic activity and growth in oil demand,” he added.
The Federal Reserve expects to cut interest rates by another 50 basis points by the end of this year, cut a full percentage point next year and another half a percentage point in 2026.
“The Fed’s decision to cut rates and some of the effects of Hurricane Francine are the only two things supporting the market right now,” Tim Snyder, chief economist at Matador Economics, told Reuters.
“The idea of another 50 to 75 basis points cut makes markets optimistic about some degree of economic stability,” he added.
About 6% of crude oil production and 10% of natural gas production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico were shut in the wake of Hurricane Francine, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Protection said Thursday in its final update on the storm.
Additional support for oil prices came from a decline in US crude inventories to its lowest level in one year last week.
