Oil futures: Crude steadies to hold weekly gains, Brent nears $75/b

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Crude oil futures Friday were little changed, heading for a rare consecutive weekly gain as markets looked to have finally halted the sluggish summer trend.

Front-month Nov24 ICE Brent futures were trading at $74.81/b (1935 GMT), compared to Thursday's settle of $74.88/b for a gain of over 4% on the week.

At the same time Nov24 NYMEX WTI was trading at $71.34/b, versus Thursday's settle of $71.16/b, while the Oct24 contract last traded $71.77/b heading into the expiry.

The week was dominated by the FOMC meeting, which took on far greater significance than usual as the Fed cut rates for the first time since 2020, coming in with a bullish 50 basis points reduction.

Oil investors gave an initial muted reaction to Wednesday's Fed decision, but prices have since extended early-week gains.

"Crude oil surged higher as the Fed's aggressive rate cut eased concerns about a hard economic landing. The 50bp cut triggered a risk-on tone across markets, helping boost sentiment in the oil market," said ANZ commodity strategist Daniel Hynes.

Markets were also given a midweek lift as data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed US commercial crude oil inventories posted a tenth draw in the past 12 weeks, sending stockpiles to a one-year low.

Elsewhere, tensions in the Middle East raised the geopolitical stakes, with both Iran and Hezbollah vowing to avenge this week's wave of Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

However, gains have been limited by ongoing concerns surrounding the demand outlook in China, as refining throughputs slowed in China for a fifth straight month in August.

Last Friday, Nov24 Brent futures closed at $71.61/b, while Oct24 WTI settled at $68.65/b.