Oil prices head for 11% weekly jump on North America, Norway outages

Oil prices inched up on Friday, setting both benchmark contracts on track for their biggest weekly gains since early June, on the back of supply outages caused by a storm in the Gulf of Mexico and a strike of offshore workers in Norway.

Brent was up 16 cents at $43.50 a barrel by 0748 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 14 cents to $41.33.

Both contracts are on track for gains of around 11% this week, the first weekly rise in three weeks.

Brent’s six-month contango, a market structure where the front-month Brent futures are trading at a discount to later contracts implying current oversupply, has shrunk to around $1.90 a barrel from $3.24 less than a month ago.
Norwegian oil company and labour officials said they would meet with a state-appointed mediator on Friday in an attempt to bring an end to a strike.