Oil prices fell at the settlement, on Friday, as the market was affected by concerns regarding supplies due to the unrest in Kazakhstan and production interruptions in Libya, in addition to the release of the US employment report that came below expectations and its potential impact on the policy of the Federal Reserve.
Brent crude futures fell 24 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $81.75 a barrel. West Texas crude futures also fell 56 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $78.90 a barrel.
The two benchmarks are regarding to record an increase of nearly 5% in The first week of the year with prices reached Its highest levels since the end of November were driven by supply concerns.
Security forces appeared to take control of the streets of Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, on Friday as the president announced the restoration of most constitutional order a day following Russia sent troops to counter an uprising.
Libya’s production fell to 729,000 barrels per day, from a high production of 1.3 million barrels per day last year, partly due to pipeline maintenance work.
The two dollar indices rose earlier in the session, but the oil market, along with stock markets and the dollar index, came under pressure following US employment numbers came in lower than expected.
At the same time, supply increases from the OPEC+ group, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and allies, are not keeping pace with demand growth.
OPEC production in December rose 70,000 barrels per day from the previous month, well below the increase allowed under the OPEC + agreement of 253,000 barrels per day, which restored production cut in 2020 when demand collapsed under the Covid-closures. 19.
