Oil rises to 1.55 dollars but is headed for its second week with declines

Oil prices rose this Friday morning on the back of real production cuts and supply threats, but were still headed for a second consecutive weekly decline as aggressive interest rate hikes and China’s Covid lockdowns -19 weighed on the outlook for demand.

The Russian President, Vladimir Putinhas threatened to halt oil and gas exports to Europe if price caps are imposed, and a small cut in OPEC+ oil production plans announced this week also supported prices.

The crude Brent rose $1.36, or 1.5%, to $90.51 a barrel by 12:00 GMT, while US crude West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up $1.55, or 1.9%, at $85.09.

In the coming months, the West will have to deal with the risk of losing Russian energy supplies and skyrocketing oil prices,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.

Brent has fallen sharply since hitting an all-time high of $147 in March after Russia invaded Ukraine, pressured by recession fears and weak demand.

Despite Friday’s bounce, both crude benchmarks were headed for a weekly decline of more than 2%, with Brent hitting its lowest since January this week.

While tight supply supports the market, the unprecedented rate hike in the European Central Bankfrom 75 basis points this week, and the new Covid-19 lockdowns in China have weighed on sentiment.