Oil prices climbed again on Friday, marking a second day of gains and putting both Brent and U.S. crude on track for a third straight week of increases.
By early trade, Brent crude was up about 44 cents to roughly $62.43 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose about 39 cents to about $58.15 a barrel.
After falling earlier in the week, both benchmarks jumped more than 3% on Thursday, and Brent is now set for about a 2.7% weekly gain, with WTI on pace for around a 1.4% rise.
Traders say prices are being driven higher by growing worries about future oil supplies. The unexpected capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and U.S. comments about taking control of Venezuela’s oil sector have added uncertainty about that country’s output. At the same time, protests and unrest in Iran, one of the Middle East’s biggest oil producers, are feeding fears that its production could be disrupted.
Concerns about continued conflict and supply issues in regions like Russia and Ukraine are also contributing to the nervous mood in the market.
A report from Haitong Futures said the recent price rebound partly reflects traders paying more attention again to geopolitical risks after days of declines. But the firm added that global oil inventories are still rising, and oversupply remains the biggest factor that could limit price gains. Unless risks around Iran deepen further, the recovery in prices may be small and hard to maintain.
In short, oil is ticking up this week as supply worries grow, but with plenty of crude still available globally, strong price gains may be hard to hold without more serious disruptions.
