Oil prices down on demand worries, growing supply - Reuters

Oil prices down on demand worries, growing supply - Reuters:

Oil prices edged lower on Friday on worries that demand would recover more slowly than expected from COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, while rising supply also overshadowed optimism over falling crude and fuel inventories.

This week, two prominent forecasters, the International Energy Agency and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, trimmed their 2020 oil demand forecasts. OPEC and its allies are increasing output this month.

“The big-picture question is whether the spread of coronavirus is going to continue to impact on the return of gasoline and diesel demand,” said Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.

Brent crude LCOc1 settled at $44.80 a barrel, falling 16 cents. U.S. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 settled at $42.01 a barrel, down 23 cents.

For the week, Brent was up 0.9% and WTI gained 1.9%.