Oil prices closed higher today on strong economic data in the eurozone and Britain. The eurozone economic recovery has unexpectedly gathered pace this month as the bloc’s dominant services industry saw already-buoyant demand rise, more than offsetting a deepening downturn in manufacturing, surveys showed. However, futures fell week over week as potential interest rate hikes and demand uncertainty were center stage.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) rose 50 cents per barrel on Friday closing at $77.87 per barrel. Brent futures settled up 56 cents per barrel closing at $81.66 per barrel. Brent posted a weekly loss of 5.4%, while WTI fell 5.6 week-over-week. Natural gas was up week over week closing at $2.233 per MMBTU on Friday.