Oil continues to rise, heads for weekly gains

Oil prices rose on Friday, thanks to optimism again about demand, while the US dollar fell against its peers.

The Energy Information Administration reported today that the US crude inventories fell 3.5 million barrels to 414 million barrels, while analysts forecast a drop by 3.8 million barrels.

China's real estate giant Evergrande continues to face a disastrous debt default scenario, which could destabilize many economic sectors in China, maid concerns about the integrity of the Chinese real estate and credit markets, and observers see that Evergrande is just the beginning.

The dollar index fell against a basket of currencies by 0.1% to 93.3 points as of 16:46 GMT, after it hit a high of 93.4 points and a low of 93.05 points.

WTI crude October futures rose 0.9% to $73.9 a barrel as of 16:35 GMT. 

Brent November futures rose 0.9% to $77.9 a barrel.