Global oil prices showed gains on Friday with a fall in US stocks after 15 successive weeks of increases and the International Energy Agency's (IEA) marginally optimistic forecast for April.
Between Monday and Friday, Brent oil prices fluctuated between the lowest at $28.86 to a peak of $32.49.
International benchmark Brent crude closed Monday at $29.63 per barrel but showed a slight increase to $31.82 at 12.37 GMT on Friday.
The trading closure price on Monday for American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was $28.29 but registered little change on Friday at 6.45 GMT when the price was $28.28.
During the week, the IEA and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) released their monthly oil reports while the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly report.
The EIA revised up its Brent crude oil price forecast for 2020 by $1 per barrel, according to its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) report for May released on Tuesday.
According to IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, the signs of a gradual rebalancing in the global oil market can be seen, although these are still fragile.
He stated the recent IEA report shows an 8.6 million-barrel-per-day oil demand fall for 2020 from the prior forecast in April of 9.3 million barrels.
According to the OPEC report, global liquids production in April decreased by 0.18 million barrels per day (mb/d) to average 99.46 mb/d on Wednesday.
In April, OPEC crude oil production increased by 1.80 mb/d month on month (m-o-m) to average 30.41 mb/d, according to secondary sources.
According to the EIA, in the US, commercial crude oil inventories posted their first decline last week since January after 15 successive weeks of increases. Inventories decreased by 700,000 barrels against the market expectation of a rise of 4.1 million barrels.
By Gulsen Cagatay
Anadolu Agency