LONDON, May 24 Reuters Oil prices were stable on Friday but poised to show a weekly loss under pressure from lingering concerns that sticky inflation could prolong higher interest rates and curb fuel demand.

Brent crude futures fell by 25 cents, or 0.31, to 81.11 a barrel by 1151 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude futures were down 21 cents, or 0.27, at 76.66.

At those levels the two benchmarks were close to threemonth lows. On Thursday Brent closed at its weakest since Feb. 7 and U.S. WTI futures at their lowest since Feb. 23.

The contracts were heading for weekly declines of about 3.4 and 4.2 respectively, with Brent set for a fifth consecutive daily decline for its longest losing streak of the year.

The backdrop of potentially higherforlonger rates weighed significantly on oil prices this week, said Phillip Nova analyst Priyanka Sachdeva.

Minutes released on Wednesday from the Fed39;s latest policy meeting showed policymakers were questioning whether interest rates are high enough to tame stubborn inflation.

Some officials said they would be willing to raise borrowing costs again if inflation surged. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other policymakers, however, have since said they feel further increases are unlikely.

Inflation surprises this year, coupled with solid activity, are likely to take rate cuts off the table for now. There also seems to be strong consensus that policy is in restrictive territory, and so hikes are probably not necessary either,…