NEW YORK- Oil prices gained more than 2 percent on Friday as supply outages in Libya and expected shutdowns in Norway outweighed expectations that an economic slowdown could dent demand.
Brent crude futures settled at $111.63 a barrel, rising $2.60, or 2.4 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) settled at $108.43 a barrel, gaining $2.67, or 2.5 percent.
WTI and Brent traded at about 70 percent and 77 percent, respectively, of the previous session’s volumes ahead of the US Fourth of July holiday.
For the week, Brent lost 1.3 percent, while WTI rose 0.8 percent. For June, both benchmarks had ended the month lower for the first time since November.
Prices rose on Friday despite the release of industry data showing U.S manufacturing activity slowed more than expected last month, adding to evidence that the country’s economy was cooling as the Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy.
Still, low crude and fuel supplies supported the oil market even as equities slumped and the US dollar, which typically has an inverse relationship with crude, rose.
“The ability of the complex to post a strong advance today in the face of significant US dollar strength and a weak equity trade suggests some refocus on tight oil supplies,” Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates LLC, said in a note.
A planned strike among Norwegian oil and gas workers on July 5 could cut the country’s overall petroleum output by around 8 percent, or around 320,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, unless a last-minute agreement is found over wage demands, a Reuters calculation showed.
Libya’s National Oil Corporation on Thursday declared force majeure at the Es Sider and RasLanuf ports, as well as the El Feel oilfield. Force majeure is still in effect at the ports of Brega and Zueitina, NOC said.
