2018.10.0515:35:00UTC+00Crude Oil Futures End Flat, But Gain 1.5% For The Week

Crude oil prices retreated after edging higher early on in the session on Friday, as traders weighed the prospects of possible drop in supply post implementation of sanctions on Iran from early November, and the decision of Russia and Saudi Arabia to increase output till December.

Although Russia and Saudi Arabia reportedly made a secret pact in September to increase output till December to partially make up for the loss of Iranian oil, it is feared that with little spare capacity at their disposal, OPEC and major non-OPEC producers may not be able to offset the likely drop in supply from early November.

Crude oil futures for November ended at $74.34 a barrel, gaining a penny.

On Thursday, crude oil ended down $2.08, or 2.7%, at $74.33 a barrel, recording its worst single-session loss in about three weeks.

Crude oil futures added 1.5% in the week, moving up for a fourth straight week.

The latest data from the Energy Information Administration showed crude supplies in U.S. to have surged by about 8 million barrels to about 404 million barrels in the week ended September 28. That was the largest weekly climb since March 2017. A week earlier, crude stockpiles had increased by 1.9 million barrels, after five consecutive weeks of declines.

According to EIA, gasoline stockpiles fell by 500,000 barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles declined by 1.8 million barrels. The agency also said that supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, increased by 1.699 barrels last week.

Traders now await the weekly oil rig count report from Baker Hughes.