Oil prices dip on rate-hike, demand fears; benchmarks down by 4% this week

Oil prices turned down in early trade on Friday after a slight rebound in the previous session, leaving them set to fall for a second straight week on worries that central banks’ aggressive rate hikes and China’s COVID-19 curbs will hurt demand.

Brent crude futures slipped 12 cents, or 0.1%, to $89.03 a barrel at 0051 GMT, after rising 1.3% on Thursday.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 19 cents, or 0.2%, to $83.35 a barrel, after climbing 2% in the previous session.

Both benchmarks were down about 4% for the week, with the market sliding at one point to its lowest level since January.