New York — Oil prices fell on Friday and were on track to end the week lower on lingering doubts over the extent of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) cuts, with sentiment worsened by concerns over the economic health of the world’s second-largest oil consumer China after it reported the steepest falls in overall exports since 2009. Record Chinese crude imports of 8.6-million barrels per day (bpd) in December helped to buoy prices somewhat, traders said, but they could not hide underlying fears over the overall health of the world’s second-biggest economy. Despite China’s oil thirst, overall exports — the country’s economic backbone — declined by 7.7% last year in what was the second annual decline in a row and the worst since the depths of the global crisis in 2009. Brent crude futures were trading 31c lower at $55.70 a barrel by 3.28pm GMT and were on track for a weekly loss of 2.5%. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell by 41c to $52.60, set for a we...
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