By Ken Afor
Oil prices were little changed on Friday and fell for a second week as the US Federal Reserve left the door open to the possibility of future interest rate hikes and eased concerns that the conflict in the Middle East would impact supply.
Brent crude U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 6 cents at $86.91 a barrel by 0010 GMT, while U.S. WTI crude futures were up 12 cents, or 0.2%, at $82.58 a barrel.
Both indicators rose more than $2 per barrel on Thursday. Brent crude oil is expected to fall about 4% for the week, while WTI is expected to close 3.5% lower.
The Israeli army attacked Hamas by besieging Gaza City, the main city of the Gaza Strip, on Thursday, but the Palestinian army attacked them by shooting at them from an underground tunnel and running away, the army said.
The White House said it was looking for a series of options between Israel and Hamas to help people escape Gaza and get to safety.
On commodities, analysts expect Saudi Arabia, the largest oil exporter, to reaffirm a voluntary cut of 1 million barrels per day by December.
US oil rig count data is expected to be released later in the day and is expected to be an indicator of future production.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve rate hike on Wednesday was quite “dovish”, while the Bank of England was more hawkish, Thursday.
