Oil prices increased more than 2% during the week ending Sept. 3 over a more-than-expected decline in US crude stocks and a weak US dollar.
International benchmark Brent crude traded at $73.45 at 1205 GMT on Friday, posting a 2.46% gain from Monday when trade at 0630 GMT registered at $71.68 per barrel.
American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $70.22 at the same time on Friday, increasing over 2.72% relative to $68.36 a barrel on Monday.
Prices started the week on a negative note due to Hurricane Ida, which strengthened in the Caribbean Sea and threatened the northern US Gulf Coast. It forced oil companies, including BP, Shell, Chevron and BHP to fully or partially evacuate their offshore platforms in the area.
Prices came under pressure as OPEC+ reaffirmed its decision at the 20th ministerial meeting on Wednesday to stick to the existing production policy by approving an incremental monthly increase of up to 400,000 barrels per day up to the end of this year.
However, the more-than-expected drop in US crude inventories during the past week limited the downward price trend. According to the latest data released by the Energy Information Administration, US commercial crude oil inventories dropped 1.7% during the week ending August 27.
Inventories decreased by 7.2 million barrels to 425.4 million barrels compared to the market expectation of a 2.8 million barrel draw.
Oil prices were also supported by a weak US dollar, which encouraged oil-importing countries to buy more oil at lower dollar prices, driving up crude prices.
By Ebru Sengul Cevrioglu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr