WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures settled higher on Friday amid optimism about the outlook for oil demand thanks to some upbeat U.S. economic data, and the Chinese central bank's fresh stimulus to spur growth.
Concerns about supply disruptions in the Middle East due to ongoing unrest in the region also contributed to the uptick in oil prices. Recent data showing a larger than expected jump in U.S. crude inventories helped as well.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its report on Wednesday that crude inventories fell by 9.2 million barrels last week as production dropped by 1 million barrels per day.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.65 or about 0.84% at $78.01 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were up $1.09 or 1.32% at $83.52 a barrel a little while ago.
WTI crude futures and Brent crude, both gained about 6% in the week.
Data from the Commerce Department showed on Thursday that U.S. gross domestic product shot up by 3.3% in the fourth quarter after surging by 4.9% in the third quarter, while economists had expected GDP to jump by 2%.
The stronger than expected GDP growth partly reflected a continued surge in consumer spending, which shot up by 2.8% in the fourth quarter after spiking by 3.1% in the third quarter.
Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2024 AFX News
