Oil Prices Set for 3% Weekly Fall

Oil prices drifted lower on Friday and were set to drop around 3% for the week as consuming countries' planned release of 240 million barrels from emergency stocks offsets some concerns over reduced supplies from Russia due to western sanctions.
Brent crude futures edged lower by 55 cents, or 0.6% to $100.03 a barrel after gaining more than $1 in the early morning. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost 34 cents, or 0.4%, to $95.67 a barrel, Money.usnews.com reported.
Analysts said the emergency oil release, amounting to about 1 million barrels per day from May to the end of the year, might cap price rises in the short term, but would not fully cover volumes lost if more countries impose sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special operation".
"Although this is the biggest release since the stockpile was created in 1980, it will fail to ultimately change the fundamentals in the oil market. It is likely to delay further increases in output from key producers," ANZ Research analysts said.
The release may deter producers, including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and US shale producers, from accelerating output increases even with oil prices around $100 a barrel, they said.