(Investing) – LONDON – Oil prices fell on Friday on receding fears over the impact of Hurricane Rafael on oil and gas infrastructure in the U.S. Gulf while investors also weighed up fresh Chinese economic stimulus.
Brent crude oil futures lost 93 cents, or 1.23%, to $74.70 a barrel by 1415 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $1.05, or 1.45%, at $71.31.
The benchmarks have reversed Thursday’s gains of nearly 1%, but Brent and WTI are still on track to finish 2% up over the week, with investors also examining how U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s policies might affect oil supply and demand.
Hurricane Rafael, which has caused 391,214 barrels per day of U.S. crude oil production to be shut in, is forecast to weaken and move slowly away from U.S. Gulf coast oilfields in the coming days, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Downward price pressure also came from data showing crude imports in China, the world’s largest oil importer, fell 9% in October – the sixth consecutive month to show a year-on-year decline.
“The weakening of oil imports in China is due to weaker demand for oil as a result of the sluggish economic development and rapid advance of e-mobility,” said Commerzbank (ETR:CBKG) analyst Carsten Fritsch.
China kicked off a fresh round of fiscal support on Friday, announcing a package that eases debt repayment strains for local governments.
The nation’s economy has faced strong deflationary pressures in the face of weak domestic demand, a property crisis and mounting financing strains on indebted local governments, limiting their investment capability.
