jordan pulse -

Oil prices fell on Friday, giving up early gains of more than $1 a barrel and falling more than $3, after banking sector concerns put crude on track for its biggest weekly in months.

Brent crude futures fell $2.27, or 3.04%, to $72.43 a barrel by 15:52 GMT.

US West Texas Intermediate crude fell $2.13, or 3.1%, at $66.22.

Both benchmarks fell more than $3, hitting session lows. Brent crude is heading for the largest weekly decline since December, by more than 10%, while West Texas Intermediate crude is heading for a loss of more than 11%, which is the largest since last April.

This week's decline came after the collapse of Silicon Valley and Signature Bank, and problems at Credit Suisse and First Republic Bank.

Members of the OPEC+ group said the price weakness this week was due to financial factors rather than any imbalance in supply and demand and added that they expected the market to stabilize.

Reuters