Oil settles near $70 a barrel on hopes of recovering demand in second half
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil settled near $70 a barrel on Friday, supported by production cuts by major oil producers and optimism about a demand recovery in the second half of the year.
Benchmark Brent settled down 41 cents, or 0.6%, to $69.22 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude also ended down 41 cents to $65.61 a barrel.
Brent and U.S. crude ended the week roughly flat after prices touched a 13-month high on Monday, following seven straight weeks of gains.
“Demand for risky assets such as oil continues to be buoyed by the White House relief package and an almost daily flow of optimistic vaccine headlines,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Illinois.
