Oil Prices pick up to the $61% area but remain more than 6% lower on the week.
Fears of a sharp output hike after this weekend's OPEC meeting have hammered OIl prices this week.
In the US, the unexpected increase in EIA Oil inventories shows that demand declined in the last week of August.
The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate Oil is posting moderate gains on Friday, trading at $61.00 at the time of writing, but still on track for its worst week since June. Market fears of an Oil glut have triggered a nearly $5 sell-off over the last five days, sending WTI oil prices to their lowest levels since late May.
The outcome of this weekend’s OPEC+ meeting remains a major concern for traders. A report by Reuters released earlier this week revealed that producer countries are considering increasing their output by up to 500,000 barrels per day in November.
These figures are in contrast with the expectations of lower global demand, amid the soft economic performance of the world’s major economies. These fears have been exacerbated by the US Government shutdown, which is expected to curtail economic growth and weigh on demand for energy by the world’s major Oil consumer, especially if the political standoff draws out long.
Recent data by the US Energy Information Administration revealed on Wednesday that Crude Oil stocks rose by 2.4 million barrels in the week of August 29, as refining activity and gasoline demand declined.
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