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Oil prices were little changed on Friday and set to drop for a second week on concerns that a prolonged trade war between the United States and China will curtail economic growth and crush crude consumption.
Brent futures rose 14 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $63.47 a barrel by 0522 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures also rose 0.2 per cent, to $60.21, after the benchmarks settled over $2.0 lower on Thursday.
Brent is set to fall 3.2 per cent this week, while WTI is set to decline 2.9 per cent. Both benchmarks declined 11 per cent in the previous week, reports Reuters.
A prolonged dispute between the world's two biggest economies is likely to reduce global trade volumes and disrupt trading routes, and eventually weigh on global economic growth.
"We expect prices will remain under pressure as investors assess ongoing trade negotiations and rising tensions between Washington and Beijing," BMI analysts said in a note on Friday.
Concerns about a global economic slowdown were also putting oil prices under pressure, Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ, said in a note.
The bank forecasts oil consumption to decline by 1.0 per cent if global economic growth falls below 3.0 per cent, Hynes said.
US President Donald Trump raised tariffs against China to 145 per cent on Thursday, even after announcing a pause on heavy tariffs against dozens of trading partners earlier this week. China, in turn, has announced an additional import levy on US goods.
The US Energy Information Administration on Thursday lowered its global economic growth forecasts and warned that tariffs could weigh heavily on oil prices, as it slashed its US and global oil demand forecasts for this year and next.
BMI analysts said the OPEC+ meeting on May 05 could prove decisive, signalling appetite to intervene in support of market stability.
"The announcement of additional supply growth at the next meeting would likely be a trigger for a renewed selloff," the analysts said.