Brent oil futures down over 3 percent in roller coaster week

Brent crude oil futures for December delivery dropped $2.77 to $75.27 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in late Friday trading as crude oil prices erased Thursday’s gains and slumped more than 3 percent as US government data showed US consumer spending dropped.

It’s been a roller coaster week for oil with Brent oil prices gaining over 3 percent on Thursday’s trading session, then dropping back down around the same amount on Friday to close the week at around $75 US dollars per barrel. Meanwhile, the US dollar gained some strength against most of the major currencies, also exerting downward pressure on the prices of oil.

“Oil is hanging around 80 dollars and traders are now looking for more economic data to confirm this positive GDP result.” Shum said that fragile global demand and oversupply meant that oil’s inability to sustain prices above 80 dollars was unsurprising. “Oil at this pricing level is on shaky ground,” he added.

“Crude prices slid back amid profit-taking, following impressive gains on the back of positive US data, as concerns over poor fundamentals (of supply and demand) continue to linger,” said analysts at the Sucden brokerage in London.

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