RIYADH: Oil prices settled lower in volatile trading on Friday, with both benchmarks recording their biggest weekly declines in months, as growing recession fears negated any supply woes after weak economic data from China, Europe and the US. US West Texas Intermediate crude settled 44 cents lower at $71.02 a barrel, a new low for 2022. Brent crude settled 5 cents lower at $76.10 per barrel on Friday. OPEC chief says OPEC+ plays crucial role in supporting market stability The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, plays an instrumental role in supporting market stability, according to OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais. Al Ghais made this remark on the sixth anniversary of the group’s formation. “Six years later, the framework continues to play an instrumental role in supporting market stability, which is essential for growth and development, as well as attracting the necessary investment to ensure energy security,” Al Ghais said in a statement. OPEC+ last met on Dec. 4. and agreed to roll over its existing output policy. Earlier in October, OPEC+ had agreed to cut output by 2 million barrels per day, which equals to about 2 percent of world demand, from November until the end of 2023. Exxon completes sale of Chad, Cameroon operations for $407 million Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday closed a $407 million sale of its operations in Central Africa’s Chad and Cameroon to London-listed firm Savannah Energy PLC. Exxon has been exiting African operations with declining crude oil production to focus on its massive liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique and on more lucrative operations in the Americas. It recently retired from a platform in Equatorial Guinea and is preparing to leave that country. Savannah acquired Exxon’s 40 percent stake in the Doba oil project, which comprises seven producing oilfields with a combined output of 28,000 barrels per day, it said in a corporate filing. The fields were producing 33,700 bpd when negotiations were disclosed last year. Exxon’s stake was previously estimated to be worth $360 million. Savannah has operated in Nigeria and Niger. The British firm also will take over Exxon’s 40 percent indirect interest in the Chad-Cameroon export transportation system — a 1,081-km pipeline and floating storage and offloading facility offshore in Cameroon. (With input from Reuters)