Oil prices rose modestly on Friday as market participants continued to weigh multiple factors.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for September delivery rose 35 cents to settle at 40.27 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude for September delivery climbed 36 cents to close at 43.30 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange on its expiration day. The October contract added 27 cents to settle at 43.52 dollars a barrel.
The moves followed a weak session on the oil market that saw WTI and Brent slide 3.3 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.
"The rapid price movement reveals on the one hand that oil prices are susceptible for a correction in view of the many risks," Eugen Weinberg, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Friday.
"And on the other, the subsequent rapid recovery of the price indicates that the market is balanced at the current level, with risks and opportunities cancelling one another out," he said.
Looking ahead, analysts noted that there are growing concerns about demand amid lingering coronavirus uncertainty.
Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes said on Friday that the number of U.S. oil rigs decreased by 1 to 180 this week.
For July, both oil benchmarks logged monthly gains.
Editor:Cherie
