Oil set for third weekly rise despite Friday fall

 

• Oil prices were set for a third straight weekly gain despite a Friday fall after easing U.S.-China trade tensions lifted business confidence and the outlook for global economic growth.

 

• Brent LCOc1 was down 17 cents at $66.37 a barrel by 1311 GMT, equivalent to a weekly rise of around 1.8%, while U.S.

 

• West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was down 20 cents at $60.98 per barrel, a gain of around 1.5% on the week.

 

• Volume of oil trade remained thin in the pre-Christmas wind down.

 

• Progress in the trade dispute between the world’s two biggest oil consumers has raised expectations of higher energy demand next year.

 

(Source: Reuters)