Oil rallies on tightening supply

Oil prices rose nearly 2 per cent on Friday to record a fourth consecutive weekly gain, buoyed by growing evidence of supply shortages in the coming months and rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine that could further hit supplies.

Brent crude futures rose $1.43, or 1.8 per cent, to settle at $81.07 a barrel, with a weekly gain of about 1.2 per cent. US West Texas Intermediate crude ended $1.42, or 1.9 per cent, higher at $77.07 a barrel, its highest since April 25. WTI gained nearly 2 per cent in the week.

"The oil market is starting to slowly price in a looming supply crunch," Price Futures Group analyst Phil Flynn said.

"Global supplies are starting to tighten and that could accelerate dramatically in the coming weeks. Increased war risk could also impact prices," Flynn said.

Russia hit Ukrainian food export facilities for a fourth day in a row on Friday and practised seizing ships in the Black Sea, in an escalation of tensions in the region since Moscow's withdrawal this week from an UN-brokered safe sea corridor agreement.

A shutdown of the grain corridor could hit supplies of ethanol and biofuels that are blended with oil products at a time that global grain markets are already tightening, which would lead to refiners using more crude oil, Flynn said.

The seizure of ships could also add risks to oil and other goods exports in the region, he added. The Kremlin on Friday said Ukraine's "unpredictable" actions pose a danger to civilian shipping in the Black Sea, and the situation around Russian exports requires analysis.

In the US, crude inventories fell last week, amid a jump in crude exports and higher refinery utilisation, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday. Earlier on Monday, the EIA had forecast that US shale oil and gas production was likely to decline in August for the first time this year, adding to concerns of supply tightness.

Meanwhile, US energy firms this week reduced the number of oil rigs by seven, their biggest cut since early June, energy services firm Baker Hughes said. At 530, the US oil rig count, an early indicator of future output, is at its lowest since March 2022.

UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei told Reuters that current actions by Opec+ to support the oil market were sufficient for now and the group was "only a phone call away" if any further steps were needed.

Chinese authorities unveiled plans to help boost sales of automobiles and electronics, a move welcomed by investors hoping that it would reinvigorate the country's sluggish economy.

Next week, preliminary purchasing manager surveys from S&P Global will be key for investors trying to understand changing global demand, Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at US Bank Asset Management, said.