<p>Oil prices trimmed overnight gains on Friday but were poised to end the week largely steady after rebounding from a sharp drop, underpinned by expectations supply will remain tight as demand recovers.</p>.<p>Brent crude futures fell 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $73.72 a barrel at 0147 GMT, after jumping 2.2% on Thursday. For the week, Brent was headed for a 0.1% gain.</p>.<p>US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $71.83 a barrel, following a 2.3% gain on Thursday. WTI was set to end the week flat.</p>.<p>Demand growth is expected to outpace new supply, following the agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, to add back 400,000 barrels per day each month from August through December.</p>.<p>Oil prices, along with other riskier assets, tumbled earlier in the week on concerns about the broad economic impact of surging Covid-19 cases of the Delta variant in the United States, Britain, Japan and elsewhere.</p>.<p>Benchmark contracts fell as much as $6 on Monday but have recouped all of those losses as investors expect overall crude demand to stay strong driven by the continued fall in oil stocks and rising rates of vaccinations.</p>.<p>"With demand holding up, the market is starting to sense the 400kb/d increase in OPEC (OPEC+) will not be enough to keep the market balanced. Inventories continue to fall, both in the US and across the OECD," ANZ Research analysts said in a note.</p>.<p>Analysts who have been raising price forecasts for the rest of the year said they see rising vaccination rates limiting the impact of surging infections of the Delta variant.</p>.<p>"We continue to see oil prices tracking higher in H2 2021 as oil demand growth outpaces supply growth," Commonwealth Bank commodities analyst Vivek Dhar said in a note. CBA sees Brent rising to $85 by the fourth quarter.</p>
<p>Oil prices trimmed overnight gains on Friday but were poised to end the week largely steady after rebounding from a sharp drop, underpinned by expectations supply will remain tight as demand recovers.</p>.<p>Brent crude futures fell 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $73.72 a barrel at 0147 GMT, after jumping 2.2% on Thursday. For the week, Brent was headed for a 0.1% gain.</p>.<p>US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $71.83 a barrel, following a 2.3% gain on Thursday. WTI was set to end the week flat.</p>.<p>Demand growth is expected to outpace new supply, following the agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, to add back 400,000 barrels per day each month from August through December.</p>.<p>Oil prices, along with other riskier assets, tumbled earlier in the week on concerns about the broad economic impact of surging Covid-19 cases of the Delta variant in the United States, Britain, Japan and elsewhere.</p>.<p>Benchmark contracts fell as much as $6 on Monday but have recouped all of those losses as investors expect overall crude demand to stay strong driven by the continued fall in oil stocks and rising rates of vaccinations.</p>.<p>"With demand holding up, the market is starting to sense the 400kb/d increase in OPEC (OPEC+) will not be enough to keep the market balanced. Inventories continue to fall, both in the US and across the OECD," ANZ Research analysts said in a note.</p>.<p>Analysts who have been raising price forecasts for the rest of the year said they see rising vaccination rates limiting the impact of surging infections of the Delta variant.</p>.<p>"We continue to see oil prices tracking higher in H2 2021 as oil demand growth outpaces supply growth," Commonwealth Bank commodities analyst Vivek Dhar said in a note. CBA sees Brent rising to $85 by the fourth quarter.</p>