Oil prices extended losses on Friday on worries about a potential oversupply after U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said refilling the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) may take several years.
Brent crude fell 34 cents, or 0.45 percent, to $75.57 a barrel by 0412 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped 32 cents, 0.46 percent, to $69.64 a barrel.
Both benchmarks, which fell about 1 percent on Thursday, were still on track for a weekly gain of about 3 percent–4 percent, recovering from their biggest weekly declines in months last week due to the banking sector crisis and worries about a possible recession.
“There is a sell-off from the view that the United States will not refill oil reserve even if the WTI prices are at $67–$72 a barrel,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Nissan Securities….