Oil heads for weekly loss as growth fears trump supply tightness

Oil was set for a weekly loss after choppy trading in which concerns over a demand-sapping slump clashed with signals of tight supply.

Brent Crude was trading at $112.49 a barrel, on Friday, putting the commodity  on course for a weekly fall of  4 per cent. Prices have swung in a range of more than $16 this week — the biggest since March — as both WTI and Brent briefly dropped below $100.

Investors remain concerned that restrictive US monetary policy could herald a recession, and oil has been dragged lower alongside other commodities.
 

On Friday US employment figures beat expectations, suggesting hiring needs are so far eclipsing concerns about the economic outlook.

Crude’s volatile trading means that it’s well down from last month’s high but still up more than 35% this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The complex market outlook has spurred banks to offer starkly different scenarios for prices, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc remaining broadly bullish while Citigroup Inc has said the commodity is at risk of a significant tumble.