Oil Prices Hold Steady Amid Optimism for China's Economy

(Reuters) – Oil prices were little changed on Friday but were set for a weekly rise amid optimism that economic stimulus efforts will prompt a recovery in China, the world's biggest oil importer.

Brent crude futures fell 1 cent to $73.25 a barrel by 0145 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $69.60, down 2 cents from Thursday's close. However, on a weekly basis, Brent was up 0.4% while WTI rose 0.2%.

The World Bank on Thursday raised its forecast for China's economic growth in 2024 and 2025 but warned that subdued household and business confidence, along with headwinds in the property sector, would keep weighing it down next year.

China revised upwards the size of its economy by 2.7% on Thursday but indicated that the change would have little impact on growth this year as policymakers pledged more stimulus to spur expansion in 2025.

Chinese authorities have agreed to issue 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) worth of special treasury bonds next year, as Beijing ramps up fiscal stimulus to revive a faltering economy.

The latest weekly report on U.S. inventories from the American Petroleum Institute industry group showed crude stocks fell last week by 3.2 million barrels, according to market sources on Tuesday.

Traders will be waiting for the official inventory report from the Energy Information Administration to confirm the decline. The EIA data is due at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) on Friday, later than usual because of the Christmas holiday.

Analysts in a Reuters poll expect crude inventories to have fallen by about 1.9 million barrels in the week to Dec. 20, while gasoline and distillate inventories are foreseen declining by 1.1 million barrels and 0.3 million barrels, respectively.