By Christopher Alessi 

LONDON--Oil prices rose Friday on hopes of thawing trade tensions between the U.S. and China, but the energy complex remained under pressure due to a stronger dollar and building U.S. crude inventories.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up 0.49% at $71.78 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were up 0.27% at $65.64 a barrel.

Prices have been weighed down this week by the Turkish currency crisis, a stronger dollar, signs of weaker global demand and an unexpected rise in U.S. crude stockpiles. However, buyers returned to the oil market after the U.S. and China said Thursday they would resume talks over a trade dispute after two months of deadlock.

"Although oil prices rose yesterday, they recouped only some of the losses they had chalked up the day before," said analysts at Commerzbank.

"Brent is thus facing its third consecutive weekly loss [and] WTI even looks set to be down for the seventh week running," the analysts wrote in a note Friday.

U.S. crude inventories rose by 6.8 million barrels to 414.2 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.

The dollar, which generally has an inverse relationship with dollar-denominated commodities like oil, reached a 14-month high this week, aided by the declining Turkish lira. The WSJ Dollar Index, which weighs the U.S. currency against a basket of 16 of its peers, was up slightly, by 0.03% Friday morning.

"As is the norm, this bout of dollar optimism spooked already skittish oil bulls, given the adverse impact on the commodities sphere of a firmer greenback," said Stephen Brennock, analyst at brokerage PVM Oil Associates Ltd.

Oil market observers awaited Friday weekly data from Baker Hughes on the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S., a key metric of activity.

Among refined products, Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock--the benchmark gasoline contract--was up 0.25% at $1.89 a gallon. ICE gasoil, a benchmark for diesel, was up 0.7% at $647.75 a metric ton.

Write to Christopher Alessi at christopher.alessi@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 17, 2018 06:58 ET (10:58 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.