Oil prices drifted lower on Friday and were set to drop around 3 per cent for the week as consuming countries’ planned release of 240 million barrels from emergency stocks offset some concerns over reduced supplies from Russia due to western sanctions.
Brent crude futures edged lower by 55 cents, or 0.6 per centto $100.03 a barrel at 0403 GMT after gaining more than $1 in the early morning.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 34 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $95.67 a barrel.
Analysts said the emergency oil release, amounting to about 1 million barrels per day from May to the end of the year, might cap price rises in the short term, but would not fully cover volumes lost if more countries impose sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special operation”.
