Credit: Investing.com -
Investing.com - U.S. crude oil futures rose on Friday, boosted by expectations that accelerating economic growth would support demand, while Brent oil futures ended flat, narrowing the gap between the two contracts to the smallest in nearly a year.
Crude oil for delivery in November was up 0.96% to settle at $93.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange late Friday. For the week, New York-traded oil futures were up 2%.
Brent oil for November delivery was almost unchanged at $97.02 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London and ended the week down 1.07%.
The spread between the two contracts stood at $3.63 a barrel at the close.
The U.S. contract, West Texas Intermediate, posted its largest weekly gain in a month on the back of a stronger demand outlook and after data showed that domestic stockpiles declined sharply.
Concerns over rising global supplies continued to pressure Brent oil lower.
U.S. crude stockpiles unexpectedly fell by 4.27 million barrels last week as imports slowed, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Crude imports fell by 1.24 million barrels a day to 6.87 million, the lowest since May, as the domestic shale boom continued to eat into demand.
Crude received an additional boost after the Commerce Department reported Friday that U.S. gross domestic product was revised up to 4.6% in the three months to June from a previous estimate of 4.2%.
It was the fastest rate of expansion since the fourth quarter of 2011.
Brent oil remained under pressure as growth in oil exports from Libya and Iraq and increased domestic production in the U.S. combined with sluggish demand from the euro zone and China fuelled concerns over a global supply glut.
Earlier this month, both the International Energy Agency and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cut their projected estimates for crude demand for next year.
OPEC cut its estimate of crude demand by 200,000 barrels a day for 2015.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
