Oil prices plunged more than 1% on Friday, posting their biggest weekly loss since late March, as traders remained cautious ahead of an OPEC+ meeting to decide the group's output policy for June.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled down 95 cents, or 1.6%, at $58.29 a barrel. Brent crude futures settled down 84 cents, or 1.4%, at $61.29 a barrel.

For the week, Brent was down more than 8% and WTI was down about 7.7%.

The OPEC+ meeting was moved up to Saturday from Monday, three sources told Reuters on Friday, although it was not clear why it was rescheduled. Members of the group, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, are considering whether to accelerate oil output increases again in June or stick with smaller increases, two of the sources said.

Either way, oil traders are bracing for more supply from the group, at a time when concerns about an economic slowdown caused by the U.S.-China trade war have prompted market experts to lower demand growth expectations for this year.

"The market is now all about OPEC with even the tariff war becoming secondary," said United ICAP energy specialist Scott Shelton.

Reuters reported this week that officials from Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC+, have told allies and industry experts they are unwilling to prop up the oil market with further supply cuts.

OPEC+ is currently cutting output by more than 5 million barrels per day. Traders are also wary of the possibility of an easing of the trade dispute between China and the United States, after Beijing said Friday it was evaluating a proposal from Washington to hold talks to address U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.

"There is some optimism about U.S.-China relations but the signs are still very tentative," said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of research at Onyx Capital Group.

Oil prices fell on Friday, capped by gains in equity markets, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo, as Wall Street rallied after U.S. jobs data showed payrolls rose more than expected last month.

Trump's threat on Thursday to impose secondary sanctions on buyers of Iranian oil also helped ease some of the pressure on oil prices, as it could tighten global supplies.

The threat, which comes after U.S. talks with Iran over its nuclear program were suspended, could also complicate trade talks with China, the world's biggest importer of Iranian crude.

Signs of slowing U.S. oil production growth could also provide some support from a longer-term perspective, said StoneX oil analyst Alex Hodes. U.S. drillers cut the number of oil rigs operating for the first time in three weeks, data from oilfield services provider Baker Hughes showed. The oil rig count, an early indicator of future production, fell by four to 479 this week. (Newsmaker23)

Source: Reuters