Oil prices set for 5% weekly drop on U.S. rate hike jitters
Oil fell for a fourth session on Friday, heading for its biggest weekly loss in five weeks on worries about the prospect of steep interest rate hikes in the United States hitting fuel demand.
Brent dipped 63 cents, or 0.8%, to $80.96 a barrel by 1140 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was down 69 cents, or 0.9%, at $75.03, Reuters reported.
Expectations of further rate hikes in the world's largest economy and in Europe have clouded the global growth outlook and driven both crude benchmarks down more than 5% so far this week, their worst drop since early February.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has warned of higher and potentially faster rate hikes, saying the Fed was wrong in initially thinking inflation was "transitory". Its next decision meeting is planned for March 21-22.
Broader U.S. employment data due at 1330 GMT looms as a crucial barometer of the health of the U.S. labour market, considered tight, and as an indicator on the direction of interest rates.
Nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 205,000 jobs last month, according to a Reuters survey.
On the supply side, the United States was reported to have privately urged some commodity traders to shed concerns about shipping price-capped Russian oil in a bid to shore up supply.
Investors are closely monitoring export cuts from Russia, which decided to trim oil output by 500,000 barrels per day in March.