Agencies New York Oil prices settled lower on Friday but posted weekly gains, as investors weighed continued supply disruptions amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis against an improved demand outlook, driven by use of oil for power generation.Brent, the global benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, settled 1.46 per cent lower at $98.15 per barrel at the close of trading on Friday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the gauge that tracks US crude, slid 2.38 percent at $92.09 a barrel.Brent climbed 3.4 percent for the week, following last week’s 14 per cent fall, its biggest weekly decline since April 2020 on recession fears and its impact on fuel demand. WTI rose about 3.5 percent. “The IEA [International Energy Agency] says that the soaring gas prices boosted the use of oil-power generation and that the ‘substantial’ gas-to-oil switching is, in return, set to boost crude consumption for the rest of the year, even as demand growth from other parts of the economy slows, due to higher price pressures, and slowing economic activity,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote Bank, said.The Paris-based agency in its monthly report on Thursday said global oil demand growth would jump by 380,000 barrels per day to 2.1 million bpd this year.The agency estimates total world oil demand to reach 99.7 million bpd in 2022 and surpass pre-Covid levels of 101.8 million bpd next year.From the technical perspective, oil prices have completed an ABCD pattern, which could be a bullish encourage a “bullish breakout” that could support a rebound towards the $100 per barrel level in the short to medium run”, Ozkardeskaya said.Oil prices have remained volatile this year. Brent touched about $140 barrel in March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions by the US and the UK on the import of Moscow’s crude.
