Oil steadies, paring gains as rising COVID cases spur demand worries

Brent futures rose 21 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $69.88 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended 24 cents, or 0.4%, lower at $66.26.Both benchmarks declined for a sixth week in a row for the first time since November 2018, and both remained in technically oversold territory for a sixth straight day for the first time since September 2020.

NEW YORK: Crude prices ended little changed on Friday after erasing earlier big gains on growing worries that rising coronavirus cases and a new variant could reduce global oil demand.

Earlier in the day, oil prices climbed more than $2 a barrel after producer group OPEC+ said it could review its policy to hike output at short notice if a rising number of pandemic lockdowns chokes off demand.