Oil prices decline following solid prior session - Xinhua | English.news.cn

Oil prices decline following solid prior session - Xinhua | English.news.cn

Oil prices slipped on Friday, giving up some of the gains they scored in the previous session.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery lost 21 cents to settle at 46.57 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery decreased 28 cents to close at 49.97 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

On Thursday, WTI crude futures surged 1.26 dollars, or 2.77 percent, while Brent advanced 2.84 percent to settle above 50 dollars a barrel for the first time since early March.

"Though there are no fundamental reasons or news to back up the latest upswing, and the risks still generally predominate as far as the supply-demand situation is concerned, the price rise itself has made the headlines," Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note Friday.

"We remain sceptical, however, and expect prices to correct in the first quarter," he added.

For the week, WTI rose about 0.7 percent, and Brent was up 1.5 percent, marking a sixth consecutive week of gains for both benchmarks.