WTI crude recovered less than $0.5 on Friday to trade at about $69.40 a barrel, but the gain was not sufficient to erase as much as 6% losses sustained since the start of the week.
Having traded at $75 a barrel in early July, the current WTI crude price represents a decline as prices were weighed down by demand concerns due to the Delta variant.
Brent crude oil futures traded at $71.76 a barrel at 0640 GMT on Friday, having surged as much as $0.47, but has also lost about 6% in the week, the biggest since March.
Kelvin Wong, an analyst at CMC Markets, expects WTI to range between $66.30 and $75.70 per barrel as Covid restrictions continue to crawl back in the wake of new strains.
A surge in oil prices is also restricted by improving crude suppliers in the US, with investors remaining cautious on non-farm payroll data on Friday.
Despite the decline, rising tensions between Iran and Israel are expected to support oil prices.
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