By Nicole Jao
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices were little changed on Friday, but set for a third straight weekly loss, as investors weighed OPEC+ reassurances against the latest U.S. jobs data that lowered expectations of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates soon.
Brent crude futures were down 8 cents to $79.79 a barrel at 1:32 p.m. EDT (GMT 1732), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 13 cents to $75.68.
Data showed U.S. jobs growth accelerated far more than expected in May, keeping the Fed on track to hold off starting to cut interest rates until September at the earliest.
The European Central Bank went ahead with its first interest rate cut since 2019 on Thursday, despite an increasingly uncertain inflation outlook.
High borrowing costs can slow economic activity and dampen demand for oil.
“The jobs report indicated higher rates for longer,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. “That tends to dampen enthusiasm on the oil market,” he said.
The dollar rallied 0.8% to a more than one-week high shortly after the release of the jobs report. [USD/]
However, oil prices have been buttressed by support from OPEC+ members Saudi Arabia and Russia, indicating readiness to pause or reverse oil output increases.
Still, crude was headed for its third straight weekly loss on demand concerns. For the week, Brent was on track to fall about 2.2% and WTI was on course for a 1.7% loss.
Oil slipped earlier this week after analysts saw Sunday’s OPEC+ meeting as an indication of rising supply, which is bearish for prices.
U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating to the lowest since January 2022, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday.
The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by six to 594 in the week to June 7, decreasing for the second time in three weeks.
Meanwhile, in China, data showed that although exports grew for a second month in May, crude oil imports fell, signalling demand concerns in the world’s largest crude oil buyer.
“Exports handsomely beat expectations,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM. “But worryingly for oil, overall imports were again down.”
In Russia, the operations of the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in southern Rostov region suffered significant disruptions after a fire following a drone attack on Thursday.
(Reporting by Nicole Jao in New York, Alex Lawler and Natelie Grover in London; Additional reporting by Brijesh Patel in Singapore and Katya Golubkova; editing by Louise Heavens, Elaine Hardcastle and Alexander Smith)
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