Oil futures rose for a fourth straight session on Friday and notched their first weekly gain in five weeks, helped by falling inventories, especially in the U.S., and a risk premium on tensions in the Middle East.

Analysts said that A decline in fresh weekly jobless claims in the U.S. reported on Thursday morning helped reassure investors who were worried about the state of the labor market.

Oil also received support from China’s consumer price index, which rose at a slightly faster-than-expected pace last month.

“The positive momentum was further strengthened by Chinese inflation data, which exceeded expectations. Against this backdrop, it would not be surprising if the price per barrel testing level 80“- said ActivTrades analyst Pierre Veyret, Reuters reports.

“The price per barrel was impacted by rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which fueled fears of a potential conflict that could disrupt production in the region and reduce global oil supplies,” Veyret added.

The Nymex (CL1:COM) crude oil futures contract for September delivery ended the week +4.5% to $76.84/bbl, including Friday’s 0.8% gain and October Brent crude (CO1:COM) closed +3.7% to $79.66/bbl this week, including a 0.6% gain on Friday.

Nymex natural gas monthly contract (NG1:COM) for September delivery +8.9% to $2.143/MMBtu this week, marking its first weekly gain in four weeks, including Friday’s 0.7% gain.

ETFs: (NYSEARCA: USE), (BNO), (UCO), (SCO), (USL), (DBO), (DRIP), (GUSH), (USOI), (UNG), (COOKING), (KOLD), (UNL), (FCG)

U.S. refinery executives said this week that decrease in production this quarteras profit margins remain low and companies plan more maintenance downtime due to weakening summer fuel demand.

Refineries have used an average of 95% of their capacity this year, leading to large stockpiles of gasoline that have benefited drivers but hurt profits. So “we’re hopeful that the supply squeeze will help drive higher margins,” Matthew Blair, an analyst at Tudor Pickering Holt, told Reuters this week.

Marathon Petroleum (MPC) said this week it expects to utilize 90% of its combined crude oil processing capacity of 3 million barrels per day across its 13 refineries in the third quarter, up from 97% in the second quarter. Valero Energy (VLO) will reduce its processing rate to ~2.86 million barrels per day, down from 3 million barrels per day in the previous quarter, and Phillips 66 (PSX) plans to utilize its plants in the lower 90% of capacity in the second quarter after reaching a five-year high of 98%.

Energy (NYSEARCA:XLE), represented by the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF fund, was the second best stock market player of the week, +1.1%.

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Source: Barchart.com