Oil prices settle pennies higher, down for week as Trump touts energy policy

Oil prices settled slightly higher on Friday but posted a weekly decline, ending four straight weeks of gains, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping plans to boost domestic production while demanding that OPEC move to lower crude prices.

Brent crude futures settled up 21 cents, or 0.27%, to $78.50 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude  settled up 4 cents, or 0.05%, to $74.66.

Brent has lost 2.8% this week while WTI was down 4.1%.

Trump on Friday reiterated his call for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut oil prices to hurt oil-rich Russia's finances and help bring an end to the war in Ukraine.

"One way to stop it quickly is for OPEC to stop making so much money and drop the price of oil ... that war will stop right away," Trump said as he landed in North Carolina to view storm damage.

The threat of harsh U.S. sanctions on Russia and Iran, which are key oil producers, could undermine Trump's goal of lowering energy costs, StoneX analyst Alex Hodes said in a note on Friday.

"Trump knows this and has leaned on OPEC to cover the void that these will create," Hodes said.