By Roslan Khasawneh
SINGAPORE, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Oil futures edged higher on
Friday but were on track for a large weekly loss on fears that
slower global economic growth will hurt fuel demand, while Saudi
Arabia said it has fully restored oil output after recent
attacks.
Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 rose 8 cents, or 0.1%, to
$57.79 a barrel by 0138 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate
(WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose 12 cents, or 0.2%, to $52.57 a
barrel.
For the week, Brent futures were down 6.7%, marking its
largest weekly loss since December, while WTI was down 6%, its
biggest decline since July.
Weak U.S. services sector and jobs growth data on Thursday
added to worries about global oil demand and exacerbated fears
that a protracted U.S.-China trade war could push the global
economy into a recession. "Concerns about global oil demand are rising, and next
week's U.S.-China trade talks, the significant X factor, will be
particularly important, given the sharp drop in the oil price
over the last week," said Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market
strategist at AxiTrader.
Saudi Arabia's energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman
also said on Thursday the world's top crude oil exporter has
fully restored oil output after attacks on its facilities last
month that knocked out more than 5% of global oil supply.
"The mood wasn't helped by news that Saudi Arabia has
managed a speedy recovery from the recent attacks," ANZ Bank
said in a note on Friday.
However, recent data showing a slowdown in U.S. shale output
and drilling activity could lend some support. "Continued falls in drilling activity has seen monthly
growth in U.S. shale oil output fall, from 150 thousand barrels
per day (kbpd) to only 50 kbpd," said ANZ.
"This is likely to linger well into 2020."