Oil prices decreased nearly 4% in the week ending Feb. 17 amid soaring inflation sentiment in the US and weak demand projections after a larger-than-expected build in inventories.
Brent crude was trading at $82.83 per barrel at 2.27 p.m. (1147 GMT) on Friday, posting a 4.3% fall from the Monday session that opened at $86.51 a barrel.
The American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) registered at $76.22 per barrel at the same time on Friday, decreasing 4% relative to the opening price of $79.35 a barrel on Monday.
Prices began the week on a negative note ahead of the release of US inflation data, as markets focused on macroeconomic data, especially the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and statements from US Federal Reserve (Fed) officials.
Sentiments over soaring inflation raised oil demand concerns, causing a fall in prices.
US President Joe Biden’s announcement of a plan on Monday to release oil from the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR), the world's largest supply of emergency crude oil, also put prices under pressure.
The plan includes the sale of 26 million barrels, which are set to be delivered to the market from April 1 to June 30.
Weak US demand fears grew further after consumer prices in the country rose 0.5% in January from the previous month, while the figure for December was revised to a 0.1% gain from a decline of the same magnitude.
A larger-than-expected rise in US oil inventories limited price increases. US commercial crude oil inventories rose by 3.6% during the week ending Feb. 10, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late Wednesday.
Inventories rose by around 16.3 million barrels to 471.4 million barrels, against the market expectation of an increase of around 321,000 barrels.
Meanwhile, both the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) projected in their monthly market reports this week that increased economic activity in China would drive global demand growth.
The positive demand outlook in China for the remainder of the year limited further price declines.
By Ebru Sengul Cevrioglu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr