International benchmark Brent crude increased to $68.26 at 1237 GMT on Friday, while American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) saw prices of $60.36.
Brent opened Monday at $66.77 per barrel while WTI traded at $58.76 per barrel.
During the week, global oil prices traded at around $66 driven higher by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some of cooperating non-OPEC countries oil production cuts, as well as by outages in Venezuela and Iran because of Washington sanctions. As a result, additional supplies have been restricted from entering the global oil market forcing prices higher.
However, concerns of a broadening global economic slowdown have emerged threatening demand for crude while keeping oil for gaining further.
Oil price increases remained limited as crude oil stocks in the U.S. surged much higher than expectations on Wednesday.
According to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late Wednesday, the U.S.' crude oil inventories rose far beyond expectations by 2.8 million barrels to 442.3 million barrels last week. The market expectation for the stock was a decrease of 1.2 million barrels.
Oil prices saw a slight decrease after U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet on Thursday, calling on OPEC to raise production.
'Very important that OPEC increase the flow of Oil. World Markets are fragile, price of Oil getting too high. Thank you!' he said.
Despite the losses, Brent recovered by the close of trading on Thursday and remained higher reaching $68 on Friday. This increase was prompted by another round of trade discussions between the U.S. and China in Beijing on Friday, with both sides hopeful of reaching a trade deal.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr