Oil holds above $70 despite forecasts for weaker demand growth
LONDON (Reuters) -The Brent benchmark oil price held above $70 a barrel on Friday, broadly shrugging off a warning from the International Energy Agency that the spread of coronavirus variants is slowing oil demand growth.
Brent crude was down 18 cents, or 0.2%, at $71.13 a barrel by 1332 GMT. U.S. crude lost 14 cents, or 0.2%, to trade at $68.95. Over the week the benchmarks are up less than 1%.
The IEA this week highlighted that growth in demand for crude oil ground to a halt in July and is set to rise at a slower pace over the rest of 2021 because of surging infections from the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
