Oil prices recorded more than a 3% increase during the week ending Sept. 24 amid ongoing supply disruptions in the US Gulf of Mexico and a larger-than-expected draw in US stockpiles.
International benchmark Brent crude traded at $77.21 at 1232 GMT on Friday, posting more than a 3.41% gain from Monday when trade at 0736 GMT registered at $74.66 per barrel.
American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $73.17 at the same time on Friday, increasing over 3.12% relative to $70.95 a barrel on Monday.
Oil prices started the week on a bearish sentiment from the rising value of the US dollar, which had seen three-week record highs to make dollar-indexed crude more expensive for buyers.
Prices recorded gains on Tuesday with the continuous supply disruptions in the US Gulf of Mexico from Hurricane Ida, which hit the region at the end of August. The disruption from the region's largest oil producer, Shell, will continue through the year-end as the company assessed significant structural damage in some of its offshore facilities.
Prices extended gains on Wednesday over a more-than-expected drop in US stockpiles. According to the weekly data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), US commercial crude oil inventories dropped by 3.5 million barrels, or 0.8%, to 414 million barrels during the week ending Sept. 17, compared to the market expectation of a 2.4 million-barrel draw.
Nonetheless, China's first public sale of state reserves on Friday is limiting price gains. International media outlets report that PetroChina and Hengli Petrochemical bought four cargoes of crude totaling 4.43 million barrels.
By Ebru Sengul Cevrioglu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr