Oil prices hit $ 79.61 a barrel on Friday

Oil prices rose on Friday, 19-10-2018, due to signs of increased demand in China, the second largest consumer of crude in the world, although prices are falling for the second week due to Concerns over the continuation of the trade war between China and the United States.

Brent futures were at $ 79.61 per barrel and WTI futures were up $ 68.91 per barrel.

On a weekly basis, Brent fell 1%, while US WTI crude futures fell 3.4% and crude fell for the second consecutive week of declines.

The world's reference ore fell $ 7 from the highest level since 2014, at $ 86.74 recorded on October 3rd.

Increase in US oil stocks

The US Energy Information Administration announced Wednesday that US crude inventories rose 6.5 million barrels last week, a weekly increase for the fourth time in a row, nearly three times the expectations of analysts.

"Stocks are getting stronger," said Olivier Jacob, an oil analyst at Petromatrix. Week after week, the track started to appear.

Oil rose this week over fears of a drop in Iranian oil exports due to sanctions imposed by the United States.

Saudi crude exports reached 7.210 million barrels a day in August

Crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia in August reached 7.210 million bpd in August, up from 7.120 million bpd in July, according to official data released on Thursday.

Riyadh and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) report monthly export figures to the Joint Data Initiative published on its website.