Oil edges higher to head for weekly gain as debt talks in focus

Oil edged higher and stayed on track for a modest weekly gain as investors monitored progress in talks to avoid a U.S. default while the dollar eased.

West Texas Intermediate traded above US$72 a barrel after slumping more than three per cent on Thursday. Republican and White House negotiators were moving closer to an agreement to raise the debt limit, according to people familiar with the matter. Still, the details agreed to are tentative and a final accord is not yet at hand.

Supply dynamics remained in focus. Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that OPEC+ wasn't likely to take further measures at its gathering in Vienna in June, undercutting earlier remarks from Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman that speculators should “watch out.”