Brent falls, but remains close to $100/bbl

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows an oil factory of Idemitsu Kosan Co. in Ichihara, east of Tokyo, Japan November 12, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS

By Rowena Edwards

LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices fell on Friday as talk of a hefty European Central Bank rate hike stoked demand worries and ahead of a speech from the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman.

Brent crude futures fell by 31 cents, or 0.31%, to $99.03 a barrel by 1344 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell by 45 cents, or 0.49%, to $92.07.

Some European Central Bank policymakers want to discuss a 75 basis point interest rate hike at a Sept. 8 policy meeting, even if recession risks loom, as the inflation outlook is deteriorating, five sources with direct knowledge of the process told Reuters.

The market also awaited fresh signals on the outlook for U.S. interest rate increases from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later on Friday.

"Fed policymakers have been making hawkish overtures of late, and this stance will likely be reiterated by Powell's message," said PVM analyst Stephen Brennock.

Both contracts rose by over $1 earlier in the session, supported by some better than expected U.S. economic data on Thursday, and Brent was on track for a weekly gain of around 2%.

Norway's biggest lender, DNB, said demand concerns look to have been overstated despite a weakening economic outlook.

"We expect the post-pandemic normalisation of mobility in emerging markets in Asia and gas-to-oil switching effects to partly offset the weaker economic growth. In addition, mobility data appears to be holding up well," it said.

Additional price support came from OPEC's de facto leader Saudi Arabia on Monday, flagging the possibility of production cuts to balance the oil market and offset the return of Iranian barrels to oil markets should Tehran clinch a nuclear deal with the West.

The United Arab Emirates on Friday became the latest OPEC+ member to state it is aligned with Saudi Arabia's thinking on crude markets, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

"The impression remains that Saudi Arabia is not willing to tolerate any price slide below $90. Speculators could view this as an invitation to bet on further price rises without the need to fear any more pronounced price declines," Commerzbank (ETR:CBKG) said in a note.