LONDON: Oil prices rose on Friday after a US debt ceiling deal averted a default in the world’s biggest oil consumer, while attention turned to a meeting of OPEC ministers and their allies at the weekend.
Brent crude futures rose 77 cents, or 1% to $75.05 a barrel by 0806 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was up 69 cents, or 1%, at $70.79.
Both contracts were headed for their first weekly loss in three weeks.
Markets were reassured by a bipartisan deal to suspend the limit on the US government’s $31.4 billion debt ceiling, which staved off a sovereign default that would have rocked global financial markets.
Earlier signals of a potential pause in rate hikes by the Federal Reserve also provided support to oil prices, not least by weighing on the US dollar, making oil cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Investor attention is now fixed on the June 4 meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, collectively called OPEC+.
OPEC+ in April announced a surprise cut of 1.16 million barrels per day in April, but the gains from that move have since been retraced and prices are below pre-cut levels.
On the demand side, the US Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its manufacturing PMI fell to 46.9 last month, the seventh-straight month that the PMI stayed below 50, indicating a contraction in activity. Manufacturing data out of China painted a mixed picture.
