Crude Oil Holds on to Week’s Gains After High Inventories Threaten Rally

Crude oil futures held on to strong gains for the week in lackluster Friday trading, after higher-than-expected inventories earlier in the week threatened to cut short the rally. At the same time, with the front-month July contract set to expire on Tuesday, analysts didn’t see much incentive for prices to move above current levels next week. The benchmark West Texas Intermediate contract settled at $77.18 a barrel on Friday, locking in a gain of 4.6% for the week, compared with $73.78 a week earlier. The August contract, which becomes the benchmark on Wednesday, settled at $78.26 a barrel. The weekly inventory report from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed crude stocks increased 1.69 million barrels in the week ended June 11, compared with the consensus forecast for a decline…