Crude oil prices: Brent, WTI log fourth straight weekly gain as summer demand picks up

Crude oil prices logged their fourth straight weekly gain, even as the rates slipped on Friday as compared to the preceding day. The climb on week-on-week basis is primarily a result of the demand picking up in the West with the onset of summer.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark US crude, rose 2% in the week ending July 5. Whereas, global crude benchmark Brent was up 0.15% in the same period.

During the trading session on Friday, WTI futures for August delivery had hit an intraday high of $84.52 per barrel, the highest seen since April. However, it pared the gains as the trading progressed and closed at $83.16 per barrel, down 72 cents, or 0.86%.

Brent futures for September delivery slid beneath $87 per barrel mark during the last trading session. The closing price was $86.54 per barrel, down 89 cents or 1.02% as against the previous day's close.

Year-to-date, Brent has climbed by 12.3%, whereas WTI has marked a sharper surge at 16.1%.

Demand picks up

The demand for crude is on the uptrend in the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer, with the onset of summer months, analysts said, pointing towards the inventory data.

Crude stockpile in the US declined by 12.2 million barrels in the week ending June 28, which was the sharpest fall since July 2023, as per the data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The uptick in demand in the coming period will lead to Brent rising to $90 a barrel in this quarter, investment banks UBS and JPMorgan Chase have projected.

Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS, wrote that "investors have started to build oil exposure again". The bank sees global crude demand rising to 1.5 million barrels per day this year, which will be higher as compared to the long-term average growth of 1.2 million barrels per day.