In New York, WTI’s US barrel for the same month gained 0.9% or 35 cents to $ 40.27.
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Oil prices recovered a bit on Friday after a heavy drop the day before, in an environment that was still fragile for demand for black gold.
A barrel of North Sea Brent for September delivery, which was the last day of trading, ended at $ 43.30 in London, up 0.8% or 36 cents from the close of Thursday.
In New York, WTI’s US barrel for the same month gained 0.9% or 35 cents to $ 40.27.
The day before, the prices of the two barrels had fallen, dropping more than 5% during the session, under the combined effect of the official entry of the United States into recession and a tweet from Donald Trump evoking the possibility of a postponement of the presidential election in November.
Over the month of July, however, Brent gained a little more than 5% and WTI rose 2.5%.
The US gross domestic product (GDP) showed a historic plunge of 32.9% in the second quarter, at an annualized rate, under the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a preliminary estimate from the Commerce Department published on Thursday.
This decline is synonymous with the official start of the recession in the world’s largest economy.
But “the rapid rebound” in crude prices, as of the end of the US session Thursday and Friday, “signifies investor interest” in black gold, sought to reassure Jeffrey Halley of Oanda.
“We could consider that the GDP of the second quarter is retrospective data, biased by the containment measures. Real consumption could now be much more robust, ”he added.
Investors are also preparing for the return to the market of a large quantity of oil from August 1 delivered by OPEC + producing countries, which if it could not find a buyer could quickly fill the available storage capacities and make slip courses.
“Investors fear that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies will reduce their cuts prematurely,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote Bank.
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