Oil prices for benchmark grades are declining on Friday following a slight increase the day before. Despite the dip, prices are still up more than 3% for the week, buoyed by forecasts of stable global fuel demand.

According to the information , citing Interfax, August futures for Brent crude on the London ICE Futures exchange fell by $0.39 (0.5%) to $82.36 per barrel. On Thursday, these futures rose by $0.15 (0.2%) to $82.75 per barrel.

Meanwhile, July futures for WTI crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) dropped by $0.45 (0.6%) to $78.17 per barrel in morning trading. During the previous trading session, these contracts had gained $0.12 (0.2%) to settle at $78.62 per barrel.

Earlier this week, the US Energy Department raised its forecast for global oil demand in 2024 by 140,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 102.98 million b/d. This suggests that the department now expects demand growth to reach nearly 1.1 million b/d this year, up from its previous estimate of 920,000 b/d just a month ago.

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