SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices clawed back some losses on Friday but were on track for their biggest weekly drops since November after see-sawing on fears of escalating bans on Russian oil versus efforts to bring more supply to market from other major producers.
Brent crude futures inched up 11 cents to $109.44 a barrel at 0149 GMT after dropping 1.6% in the previous session.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 46 cents to $106.48 a barrel, following a 2.5% decline on Thursday.
In a week of volatile trading marked by talk of Russian oil embargoes then potential supply additions from Iran, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates while fighting escalated in Ukraine, Brent was on track for a weekly fall of about 7% after hitting a 14-year high of $139.13. U.S. crude was headed for a drop of around 8% after touching a high of $130.50.
Prices eased this week after it became clear the European Union, heavily reliant on Russian energy, would not join the United States and Britain in banning Russian oil.
Russia, the world’s second largest crude exporter behind Saudi Arabia, exports about 3 million barrels per day of crude to Europe’s OECD countries.
“The oil market is not prepared to face such a supply shock as inventories stand at a multi-year low level,” Reuters quoted ANZ Research analysts as saying in a report.
