Proactive Investors - Brent crude oil price traded at about $77 a barrel on Friday, gaining more than 4% during the past two sessions and up about 1.4% on the week after US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said policymakers are now focusing on when to cut borrowing costs.
Powell’s comments caused the US dollar to weaken, which increases the appeal of commodities priced in the currency.
Brent’s move higher follows seven straight weeks of declines that brought futures to the lowest level since June.
The price of Brent crude has fallen nearly 3% year to date.
A big increase in exports from non-OPEC countries, including the US, and weakening demand concerns have weighed on both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices in 2023.
On Tuesday, the US Energy Information Administration lowered its 2024 price forecast for international benchmark Brent by $10 to $83 per barrel on average in 2024 despite announced production cuts from OPEC+ members.
And, more recently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) cut its estimates for global oil demand growth this quarter by almost 400,000 barrels a day and sliced its growth outlook by nearly 50% in 2024 to about 1.1 million barrels a day.