NEW YORK, July 17 (UPI) — With Germany giving support for Greek assistance, crude oil prices recovered somewhat by early Friday after a major North Sea field came back online.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, was relatively flat at the opening bell on Wall Street, losing about 14 cents to $51.05 per barrel. Brent crude oil prices were up 35 cents to $57.27 per barrel.
Crude oil prices were moving slightly higher before the Buzzard oil field in the North Sea, Britain’s largest oil field, came back into service following a power outage earlier this week. Oil prices in recent months have moved heavily on supply and demand issues, as more output from the United States and Saudi Arabia competes against lackluster growth in the global economy.
The European Central Bank this week opted to keep interest rates at historic lows, though reports from Eurostat, the statistics office for the European Union, said inflation remained high, notably in Greece.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will need full parliamentary support for a $94 billion loan package for Greece after the lower house voted in favor of a deal meant to help the Greek government avoid default.
Merkel had cautioned the protracted “situation is comparatively serious,” calling on the Greek government to provide “extremely detailed proposals” for assistance.
Crude oil prices are down considerably since the beginning of July, putting strain on energy companies struggling to keep operations moving forward in a market a year removed from $100 per barrel oil.
Oil services company Schlumberger, the first company of its kind out of the gate with a second quarter earnings report, said it was still pulling back, but expected a rebound moving forward to 2016.
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