Oil up 4th week on Russia saber-rattling, OPEC rhetoric
Investing.com — OPEC’s bid for $80 and above oil got a boost from ally Russia this week as Moscow’s increasingly desperate offensives against Ukraine raised supply concerns in a market already besieged by the oil cartel’s rhetoric over cuts.
Crude prices were headed for a fourth straight week of gains as Russia continued to target Ukrainian food export facilities on Friday, seizing ships in the Black Sea and escalating tensions after withdrawing from a U.N.-brokered safe sea corridor agreement.
OPEC, or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, meanwhile, continued its megaphone policy as Suhail al-Mazrouei, energy minister of the United Arab Emirates, told Reuters in an interview that the oil cartel is «only a phone call away» if more choking of supplies were needed.
With nearly 90 minutes to the day’s close, New York-based West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, crude was up $1.24, or 1.6%, to $76.89 per barrel on Friday. For the week, the U.S. crude benchmark was up 2%, after gains of 2.1%, 4.6% and 2.1% over three prior weeks.
London-based Brent rose by $1.19, or 1.5%, to $80.83 per barrel. For the week, the global crude benchmark gained 1.1%, after rising 1.8%, 4.8% and 1.4% over three previous weeks.
On a monthly basis, crude has climbed about 9% in July after June’s 4% gain. The run-up comes amid Saudi and Russian rhetoric about production cuts — an additional one million barrels per day each for the kingdom and half a million a day pledged by Moscow — as well as receding inflation data that suggested the Federal Reserve will be less aggressive with interest rates going forth.
Notwithstanding those gains, the market has had trouble reaching beyond the OPEC target of $80 and above due to dismal growth data
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