Oil futures fell Friday as several Chinese cities widened COVID-19 curbs, but crude remained on track for solid weekly gains.
Price action
-
West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery
CL.1,
-1.26% CLZ22,
-1.26%
fell 51 cents, or 0.6%, to $88.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, on track for a 4.2% weekly gain. -
December Brent crude
BRNZ22,
-0.93% ,
the global benchmark, fell 33 cents, or 0.3%, to $96.63 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. January Brent
BRN00,
-0.95% BRNF23,
-0.95% ,
the most actively traded contract, was off 33 cents, or 0.3%, at $94.71 a barrel, leaving it up 3.7% for the week. -
Back on Nymex, November gasoline
RBX22,
-0.84%
fell 0.7% to $2.991 a gallon, while November heating oil
HOX22,
+3.40%
rose 0.6% to $4.362 a gallon. -
December natural gas
NGZ22,
-2.23%
fell 0.4% to $5.849 per million British thermal units.
Market drivers
Guangzhou, China’s fourth-largest city by economic output, widened restrictions to keep people in their homes as a COVID resurgence entered its fourth week, Reuters reported.
China’s zero-COVID policies have been a drag on oil prices in 2022, crimping demand from one of the world’s largest consumers.
“It is Friday, so we are trading off the weekly headline dregs, which still lend support for oil prices. Specifically, the EIA data shows record-high exports of crude and products and product inventory draws in the U.S., pointing to robust oil demand,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, in a note, referring to weekly U.S. inventory data released on Wednesday.
