Oil prices edged lower on Friday, with weak demand in focus after the OPEC+ group postponed planned supply increases and extended deep output cuts to the end of 2026.
Brent crude futures fell 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $72.03 per barrel by 0336 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost 1 cent to $68.29 per barrel.
For the week, Brent was on track to drop more than 1%, while WTI hung on to a marginal 0.1% gain.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies on Thursday pushed back the start of oil output rises by three months until April and extended the full unwinding of cuts by a year until the end of 2026.
The group, known as OPEC+ and responsible for about half of the world’s oil output, was planning to start unwinding cuts from October 2024, but a slowdown in global demand – especially in China – and rising output elsewhere have forced it to postpone the plan several times.
