Singapore May 27 2022: Oil prices dipped on Friday but stayed near a two-month high, with Brent crude on track for its biggest weekly jump in 1-1/2 months, supported by the prospect of an EU ban on Russian oil and the upcoming U.S. summer driving season.
Brent crude futures for July were down 21 cents, or 0.2%, at $117.19 a barrel at 0642 GMT after rising as high as $118.17 earlier in the session. The benchmark was still on track for a gain of about 4% this week.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 24 cents, or 0.2%, at $113.85 a barrel. WTI is set for a weekly gain of about 0.5%.
Both benchmark crude contracts were poised to end the week higher as the European Commission continued to seek unanimous support of all 27 EU member states for its proposed new sanctions against Russia, with Hungary posing a stumbling block.
Prices have gained about 50% so far this year.
OPEC+ is set to stick to last year’s oil production deal at its June 2 meeting and raise July output targets by 432,000 barrels per day, six OPEC+ sources told Reuters. The OPEC+ members would thereby rebuff Western calls for a faster increase to lower surging prices.
