Oil heads for weekly gain on supply fears due to US sanctions on Russian companies

Oil prices edged up on Friday, extending the previous day's surge and on track for a weekly gain as U.S. sanctions on Russia's two biggest oil companies over the war in Ukraine spurred supply concerns.

Brent crude futures rose 50 cents, or 0.76%, to $66.49 by 11:33 a.m. CDT (1633 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures also advanced 30 cents, or 0.49%, to $62.09.

"It's the sanctions," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst for Price Futures Group, adding that it appeared there would not be a resolution soon.

Futures have been driven down in recent weeks on expectations of a glut in oil supplies as OPEC and its allies boosted supply.

"Looking at the demand numbers from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday, we didn't see any evidence of a glut," Flynn said.

Both benchmarks jumped more than 5% on Thursday following the sanctions announcement and were set for about a 7% weekly gain, the biggest since mid-June.