Crude oil prices eased slightly at Friday's open as markets assessed the impact of US interest rates remaining higher than expected. Still, the benchmark headed for its best week in more than two months after forecast demand rose for energy resources.
Brent crude futures were down 42 cents (0.5%) at $82.33 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) lost 51 cents (0.7%) at $78.11 a barrel.
However, Brent and WTI are up more than 3% this week.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stuck to its forecast of relatively strong growth in global oil demand through 2024 and Goldman Sachs predicted strong US fuel demand this summer.
This sentiment helped recover the previous week's losses caused by OPEC's agreement with its allies (OPEC+) to implement production cuts.
This week's price increase eased again after the Federal Reserve (Fed) is expected to maintain high interest rates and refuse to implement policy easing in the near future.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency said in a report on Wednesday it sees oil demand peaking by 2029 leveling off at around 106 million barrels a day by the end of the decade.
On the negative side, concerns about the economic outlook increased after the Fed's view on its rate cut and supported the position of the US dollar. This will also support the Brent position to the positive.
