Oil prices rose on Friday after a Ukrainian drone attack suspended loadings from the largest port in western Russia, but gains were capped by concerns about US demand.
Brent crude futures settled at $66.99 a barrel, up 62 cents, or 0.93 percent. US West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $62.69, a gain of 32 cents, or 0.51 percent.
Early in the day, crude reacted to the drone attack on Russia’s northwestern port of Primorsk, which led to a suspension of oil loading operations overnight, an official from Ukraine’s SBU security service said.
“Those attacks on Russian energy infrastructure have room to drag down Russian crude and refined product exports,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
But later in the day, gains shrank as traders continued to focus on a revised US jobs report issued earlier in the week along with higher inflation figures.
“The economic data is not supportive of a rally,” said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital. “The overall weight is down and the trend is bearish.”
The US economy likely created 911,000 fewer jobs in the 12 months through March than previously estimated, the US Labor Department said on Tuesday.
The department said on Thursday the consumer price index rose 0.4 percent in August, the biggest gain since January, after increasing 0.2 percent in July.
The markets are also watching for sanctions or tariffs from the Trump administration aimed at reducing use of Russian crude by India and China.
“Any potential for the tariffs to India and China to harm exports, then we would see Russian barrels off the market,” Kilduff said.
