Shafaq News/ Oil prices edged up in
Asian trade on Friday, heading for a weekly gain of more than 3%, as US jobs
data calmed demand concerns and fears of a widening Middle East conflict
persisted.
Brent crude futures rose 9 cents, or
0.11%, to $79.25 a barrel by 0406 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures
were up 12 cents at $76.31 per barrel.
Both Brent and WTI were set to gain
more than 3% on a weekly basis.
Israeli forces stepped up airstrikes
across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 40 people, Palestinian
medics said, in further battle with Hamas-led militants as Israel braced for
potential wider war in the region.
"Crude oil continued its
recovery from its recent plunge as elevated geopolitical risks came into
focus," said ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes.
The killing last week of senior
members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah had raised the possibility of
retaliatory strikes by Iran against Israel, stoking concerns over oil supply
from the world's largest producing region.
Iran-aligned Houthi militants
continued attacks this week on international shipping near Yemen, in solidarity
with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas.
On Thursday, the United Kingdom
Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said it had received a report of an
incident near the coast of Mokha, a port city in Yemen.
Lending further support to prices,
Libya's National Oil Corp. declared force majeure at its Sharara oilfield from
Wednesday, the company said in a statement, adding that it had gradually
reduced the field's output because of protests.
Also in the Middle East, the king of
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, decreed that the cabinet could
convene in the absence of himself and the prime minister, his son Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, state media said on Thursday.
The 88-year-old King Salman was
treated for lung inflammation in May. Prince Mohammed, 38, has been the de
facto ruler since 2017.
Sentiment in the United States was
buoyed after data showed the number of Americans filing new applications for
unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, suggesting fears that
the labor market was unraveling were overblown and easing recession concerns.
The dollar (.DXY) rose on the jobs
data. A stronger dollar usually tends to lower oil prices, however, as buyers
using other currencies have to pay more for their dollar-denominated crude.
In China, July consumer price index
figures showed no sign of a pick-up in consumer demand, despite
consumption-boosting incentives.
Prices rose last month at a rate
slightly faster than expected, Friday's data showed, but that was largely
because of weather disruptions that affected food supplies.
Markets in key oil trading hub
Singapore were closed for a public holiday.
(Reuters)