Oil prices fell 2% on Friday, settling for a big weekly loss after data showed a weaker-than-expected increase in U.S. jobs in August, outweighing the support prices received from the OPEC+ alliance's decision to delay an output increase.
Brent crude futures fell $1.63, or 2.24 percent, to $71.06 a barrel, their lowest since December 2021. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell $1.48, or 2.14 percent, to $67.67, their lowest since June 2023.
On a weekly basis, Brent crude fell 10 percent, while West Texas Intermediate crude fell nearly eight percent.
U.S. government data showed employment rose less than expected in August, but the unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent, suggesting a moderate slowdown in the labor market that may not warrant a big interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve this month.
Brent crude prices settled at their lowest level since June 2023 on Thursday, despite a drawdown in US oil inventories and OPEC+'s decision to postpone planned increases in oil production.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 6.9 million barrels to 418.3 million barrels last week, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a decline of 993,000 barrels.
Also weighing on oil prices this week were signs that rival factions in Libya may be close to reaching an agreement to end a conflict that has disrupted the country's oil exports.
Bank of America said in a note on Friday that it had cut its forecast for Brent crude prices in the second half of 2024 to $75 a barrel from around $90 previously, citing a build-up in global inventories, weak demand growth and OPEC+ spare capacity.
