Amid improved demand prospects in the United States and China, oil prices remained stable on Friday and are expected to rise weekly.

Brent futures fell 3 cents to $76.45 per barrel at 04:14 GMT, while American West Texas Intermediate crude fell 4 cents to $72.44 GMT. Both indexes gained more than 2% this week, the biggest weekly increase since early January. Brent would record a second week of increase after three weeks of decline

WTI is expected to see its first week of increase after four weeks of decline. According to the Energy Information Administration, crude oil inventories in the United States increased while gasoline and distillate inventories declined last week as seasonal refinery maintenance led to lower processing