Oil prices edge up after strong economic data

new york — Oil prices inched up on Friday as strong US economic data boosted demand sentiment and as production losses in sanctions-hit Iran and Venezuela tightened the market.

Still, oil futures recorded weekly declines after a jump in US crude inventories reported this week.

Brent crude oil futures settled at $70.85 a barrel, rising 10 cents. The global benchmark shed 2.6 per cent for the week, breaking a five-week winning streak.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures closed at $61.94 a barrel, up 13 cents, while losing about three per cent during the week, its second straight weekly decline.

A US jobs report that showed growth surging in April and the unemployment rate dropping to a more than 49-year low of 3.6 per cent increased expectations that crude demand would stay strong.

“If more people are going to work, they’re going to have to drive or take transportation to get there,” Phil Streible, senior commodities strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago.

Equities rallied and the US dollar weakened following the report, which also supported oil futures, Streible said. Oil prices tend

to follow moves in equities, and demand for the US dollar-linked commodity often increases when the greenback slips.

Gains in the oil market, however, were capped by Wednesday’s report that showed US crude inventories jumping to their highest since September 2017 and production hitting a record 12.3 million barrels per day last week.