Oil prices ebbed on Friday, January 27, a day after rallying to their highest level in nearly three weeks.
The drop came as support from recent global production cuts continued to face off against pressure from growing U.S. output.
On the ICE Futures exchange in London, March Brent crude LCOH7, -1.97% lost 67 cents, 1.2% to $55.57 a barrel, with the contract up about 0.1% for the week.
March West Texas Intermediate crude CLH7, -1.73% slid 54 cents, or 1%, to $53.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It settled at $53.78 on Thursday, the highest finish since Jan. 6, according to FactSet data.
For the week, the March contract was nearly flat, but traded about 1.6% higher than the settlement for last Friday’s front-month February contract.
Crude prices have been seesawing between gains and losses in recent weeks, but pushed higher Thursday, closing at their highest finish in nearly three weeks, MarketWatch.
Traders attributed the rally to technical buying, as well as mounting expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies have been following through on their commitment to cut production.
In refined fuel markets, February gasoline RBG7, -1.08% fell by less th an half a cent to $1.54 a gallon, trading about 1.7% lower for the week, and February heating oil HOG7, -2.36% lost 2.9 cents, or 1.8%, to $1.612 a gallon, set for a weekly loss of about 2.1% on the week.
February natural gas NGG17, -1.80% which expires at the day’s settlement, edged down by 8.2 cents, or 2.4%, to $3.30 per million British thermal units. The contract, which gained 1.5% Thursday after data showed a weekly supply decline that matched market expectations, traded about 3% higher for the week.
