Oil prices rose more than 3% on Friday, rebounding on concerns it could take weeks to dislodge a giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal, which would squeeze supplies of crude and refined products. Prices, however, were still headed for a third consecutive weekly loss, with the outlook for demand dented by fresh coronavirus lockdowns in Europe.
Brent crude was up $2.12, or 3.4%, to $64.07 a barrel at 1338 GMT, after dropping 3.8% on Thursday.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up $2.16, or 3.7%, at $60.72a barrel, having tumbled 4.3% a day earlier.
Both benchmarks were on track for weekly losses, following a more than 6% decline last week.
Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority said on Friday operations to free the stranded container ship would resume after completing dredging operations, which are 87% complete.
The salvage company said on Thursday dislodging the ship could take weeks.
Of the 39.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of total seaborne crude in 2020,…