Oil prices fall, deepen weekly loss to 8%

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices deepened their losses on Friday, due to renewed concerns about demand slowdown from China.   

Brent crude futures for December delivery dropped 1.85%, or $1.39, to settle at $73.06 a barrel.

Similarly, New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) futures for November delivery slumped over 2%, or $1.45, to $69.22 per barrel.

Both contracts recorded weekly losses of 7.55% and 8.4%, respectively.

China's GDP slowed to 4.6% in Q3 2024, from 4.7% in the second quarter, marking its lowest pace since the beginning of 2023.

Meanwhile, China’s refinery output fell 5.4% in September versus a year earlier, official data showed on Friday, declining for a sixth consecutive month.