London — Oil edged higher on Friday, boosted by hopes that an OPEC output cut was beginning to balance a long-oversupplied market, but benchmark prices were on track for weekly losses as concerns persisted over an excess of crude. Benchmark Brent crude futures were at $50.72 per barrel at 12.55GMT, up 16 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 20 cents at $47.90 a barrel. Brent was heading for a weekly fall of around 2%, while WTI was off just over 1.8%. Analysts said the gains were a sign that the crude benchmarks, trading roughly 12% below the highs reached in January this year, had levelled out. "The flat price is starting to bottom. A lot of the negativity has been priced in," said Olivier Jakob, managing director of PetroMatrix. Saudi Arabia said its crude exports to the United States would fall by around 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) between February and March, boosting price sentiment. It said the expected drop could help draw dow...
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