There was no change in oil prices in Friday’s session amid a decline in the US dollar and US job reports, but the two benchmarks ended the first week of the year in decline due to global recession fears.
Brent crude futures fell 12 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $78.57 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 10 cents, or 0.1%, to $73.77 a barrel.
On a weekly basis, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate fell by more than 8%, their largest weekly decline in the past decade.At the beginning of the year since 2016.
Both benchmarks rose about 13% over the previous three weeks.
“The oil market may regain some calm after the big changes earlier this week, but the upside potential is still limited, at least in the near term,” said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at BVM. “The economic outlook is murky.”