Islamabad
Oil prices rebounded by about one per cent on Friday after a meeting between Saudi Arabia and Russia calmed markets amid strong China demand expectations, after a banking crisis sparked a sell-off in global financial and oil markets this week.
Brent crude futures rose by 81 cents to $75.51 a barrel by 0400 GMT, having snapped three days of losses to settle 1.4pc higher on Thursday.
US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 78 cents to $69.13 a barrel, after closing 1.1pc higher in the previous session.
Both contracts hit their lowest in more than a year this week and are set to post their biggest weekly falls since December at about 10pc.
Oil and other global assets were undercut this week as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank sent the US and Swiss governments scrambling to shore up liquidity at banks.
“Oil demand is being repriced, but we see little change in fundamentals and are inclined to ride out financial sector volatility, keeping our price forecasts unchanged for now as we await updates on potential policy actions in the coming weeks,” JPMorgan analysts said in a note, referring to an Opec+ (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies including Russia) meeting and Washington most likely moving to start refilling strategic reserves.
