Oil prices fell on Friday but are set for a weekly gain, caught between expectations of lower demand as the end of summer nears in the United States, the world’s biggest consumer, and uncertainty about the availability of Russian supply.
Brent crude futures for October delivery, which will expire on Friday, fell 39 cents, or 0.6%, at $68.23 at 0641 GMT, while the more active contract for November slid 38 cents, or 0.6%, to $67.60.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 39 cents, or 0.6%, at $64.21.
Brent is set for a weekly gain of 0.6%, while WTI is set to climb by 0.8%.
Prices gained due to Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil export terminals earlier this week and after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday there will be no meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
However, the end of the US summer driving demand period with the Labor Day holiday on Monday and more supply from major producers becoming available with the end of voluntary output cuts have weighed on prices.
“We expect rising OPEC+ supply and a seasonal fall in global refining activity from September will result in a pick-up in global oil stockpiles in coming months.
We forecast Brent oil futures falling to $63/bbl in Q4 2025,“ Commonwealth Bank of Australia commodities analyst Vivek Dhar said in a note.
Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Thursday that killed 23 people have raised concerns the US may respond with tighter sanctions.
“Uncertainty lingers over whether US and Europe may tighten sanctions against Russia following its attack on Ukraine, and over the potential impact of US tariffs on India, making investors reluctant to take large positions,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, chief strategist of Nissan Securities Investment, a unit of Nissan Securities.
Investors are also watching for India’s response to pressure from the US to stop buying Russian oil, after Trump doubled tariffs on imports from India to as much as 50% on Wednesday.
Still, Russian oil exports to India are set to rise in September, traders said, defying the US pressure.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, may cut October crude oil prices for Asian buyers amid ample supply and weaker demand, refining sources said.
Russian crude supplies to Hungary and Slovakia through the Druzhba pipeline have restarted after an outage caused by a Ukrainian attack in Russia last week, Hungarian oil company MOL and Slovakia’s economy minister said on Thursday.
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