Oil inched down on Friday

International benchmarks for oil prices moved lower on Friday (5 August) on the back of strengthened US dollars, stemming from better than expected US job reports. Market is waiting for the Chinese government to release data on crude import in July to gauge the health of oil-market demand. Meanwhile, many are holding conservative stance, as refiners remain operating at high rate and the number of active oilrigs in the US added another 7 last week.

WTI closed at $41.80/barrel (-$0.13) September delivery

Brent closed at $44.27/barrel (-$0.02) September delivery