(Reuters) – Oil prices were little changed on Friday but were set for a weekly rise amid optimism economic stimulus efforts will prompt a recovery in China, the world’s biggest oil importer.
Brent crude futures fell 1 cent to $73.25 a barrel by 0145 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $69.60, down 2 cents, from Thursday’s close. However, on a weekly basis, Brent was up 0.4% while WTI rose 0.2%.
The World Bank on Thursday raised its forecast for China’s economic growth in 2024 and 2025, but warned that subdued household and business confidence, along with headwinds in the property sector, would keep weighing it down next year.
China on Thursday revised upwards the size of its economy by 2.7%, but said the change would have little impact on growth this year, as policymakers pledged more stimulus to spur expansion in 2025.
Chinese authorities have agreed to issue 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) worth of special treasury bonds next year, as Beijing ramps up fiscal stimulus to revive a faltering economy.
The latest weekly report on U.S. inventories, from the American Petroleum Institute industry group, showed crude stocks fell last week by 3.2 million barrels, market sources said on Tuesday.
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Traders will be waiting to see if the official inventory report from the Energy Information Administration confirms the decline. The EIA data is due at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) on Friday, later than normal because of the Christmas holiday.
Analysts in a Reuters poll expect crude inventories fell by about 1.9 million barrels in the week to Dec. 20, while gasoline and distillate inventories are seen falling by 1.1 million barrels and 0.3 million barrels respectively.
(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
