U.S. oil futures settled lower on Friday, hitting their lowest in a month. It was another rough week for oil as “cooling optimism over the demand outlook and rising U.S. stockpiles kept bears in a position of power,” said Lukman Otunuga, manager, market analysis at FXTM. The European Union is set to enforce sanctions on imports of Russian oil products on Feb. 5. “It will be interesting to see how this may impact global oil prices in the medium to longer term,” said Otunuga. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery clh23 fell $2.49, or 3.3%, to settle at $73.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Front-month contract prices settled at their lowest since Jan. 4, down 7.9% for the week, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
