Oil held near $53 a barrel (WTI) on Friday, but was on course for its biggest weekly drop in a month due to doubts that an OPEC-led production cut will restore balance to an oversupplied market.
Oil prices fell 1.5 percent to steady at around $53 a barrel on Friday after the biggest weekly rally since 2009 following OPEC's decision this week to cut crude output in order to rein in a global glut.
Crude futures dipped toward $47 a barrel on Friday on concerns that a persistent global glut of crude oil and refined products will impede any price recovery.
Oil prices rose on Wednesday on hopes that major producing countries would seal an agreement on freezing production following a key ministerial meeting in Iran, even though Tehran signaled a tough
Royal Dutch Shell expects to slash thousands more jobs to save costs if its takeover of BG Group goes through as planned early next year following a final green light from China.
