Oil prices rise slightly on Friday with Brent in its first monthly rise this year. This comes on the back of a decline in US oil inventories, which counterbalanced concerns that fuel demand would be weakened by further interest rate hikes that could ultimately hit global growth, Reuters reports.

A barrel of the European reference oil, Brent, costs USD 74.64 on Friday morning, compared to USD 74.46 on Thursday afternoon. At the same time, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil is trading at USD 70.01 compared to USD 70.03 on Thursday afternoon.

Markets are concerned about tightening supply in the US after the US Department of Energy (EIA) reported that oil inventories fell by 9.6 million barrels last week, beating a 1.8 million barrel drop that analysts had predicted in a Reuters poll.

US gross domestic product for the first quarter was revised up to 2% from 1.3% on Thursday.

”A significant revision to the US gross domestic product can be added to the list of recent positive economic surprises in the US, with economic resilience allaying concerns about a possible recession,” says Yeap Jun Rong, market analyst at IG, in a note.

Oil price increases are limited by China’s weak economic data and fears of further interest rate hikes.

China’s industrial production fell for the third consecutive month in June, albeit at a slower pace than before, according to official figures from the China National Bureau of Statistics. Activity in the service industry also fell in June.

The US Federal Reserve will most likely resume interest rate hikes after a pause in June, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled on Thursday, following stronger-than-expected economic data.

US oil rig count data, an indicator of future supply, will be released later on Friday.