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Investing.com -- Oil prices edged higher Friday, but were nursing sharp weekly losses amid concerns over a tariff-driven cooling in demand and a looming supply glut.
At 08:50 ET (12:50 GMT), Brent oil futures for October gained 0.6% to $66.85 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.5^ to $64.18 a barrel.
Both contracts were down over 4% this week.
Oil headed for worst week since late-June
Oil’s deep losses this week were driven by heightened concerns over slowing demand, especially as global economies grapple with increased U.S. trade tariffs.
Recent signs of a cooling U.S. labor market also sparked concerns over weakening demand in the largest country in the world, although a sustained draw in inventories helped somewhat offset this notion.
On the supply front, oil prices were still reeling from the OPEC+ hiking its production quota again in September, as the cartel steadily unwinds about three years of supply cuts.
Russia-Ukraine diplomacy in spotlight
Russia confirmed on Thursday that President Vladimir Putin will meet U.S. President Donald Trump in the coming days, amid repeated calls from Trump and the West for an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The war, which has been ongoing for over three years, provided some support to oil markets on expectations of tighter Russian supplies. But a potential ceasefire stands to offset this notion.
"However, it is important to note that President Trump’s deadline for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal expires today, leaving open the risk that the U.S. will still tighten sanctions against Moscow," said analysts at ING, in a note.
Trump this week slapped India with as much as 50% trade tariffs over its buying of Russian oil, and also threatened to tariff top buyer China.
There are media reports that Indian state refiners are taking a step back from buying Russian crude oil amid the tariff uncertainty.
"Indian exports to the US dwarf the savings that India receives from buying discounted Russian crude oil. Therefore, we believe that India will likely switch to alternative crude supply in order to avoid these additional tariffs. This should lead to increased demand for other grades from the Middle East, continuing to provide support to Dubai relative to Brent," said ING.
Ambar Warrick contributed to this article