March 15 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on Friday

but were on track to gain over 3% for the week, boosted by the

International Energy Agency raising its 2024 oil demand

forecasts and an unexpected decline in U.S. stockpiles.

Brent crude oil futures were down 59 cents or

0.6% to $84.83 a barrel at 1020 GMT, after topping $85 a barrel

for the first time since November on Thursday. U.S. West Texas

Intermediate (WTI) crude were down 56 cents or 0.6% to $80.70.

"Crude futures were staging a mild retreat from fresh

four-month peaks ... likely entering a consolidation phase to

await further direction," said Vandana Hari, founder of oil

market analysis provider Vanda Insights.

Prices had remained range-bound for much of the last

month roughly between $80 to $84 a barrel before the IEA on

Thursday raised its view on 2024 oil demand for a fourth time

since November as Houthi attacks disrupt Red Sea shipping.

World oil demand will rise by 1.3 million bpd in 2024, the

IEA said in its latest report, up 110,000 bpd from last month.

It forecast a slight supply deficit this year should OPEC+

members sustain their output cuts having previously forecast a

surplus.

The gains this week have come despite the U.S. dollar

strengthening at its fastest pace in eight weeks. A stronger

dollar makes crude more expensive for users of other currencies.

Also supporting prices were Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil

refineries, which caused a fire at Rosneft's biggest refinery in

one of the most serious attacks against Russia's energy sector

in recent months.

U.S. crude oil stockpiles also fell unexpectedly last week

as refineries ramped up processing while gasoline inventories

slumped as demand rose, the Energy Information Administration

said on Wednesday.

On the demand side, China's central bank left a key policy

rate unchanged as authorities continued to prioritise currency

stability amid uncertainty over the timing of expected U.S.

Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

Lower interest rates cut consumer borrowing costs, which can

boost economic growth and demand for oil.

In the United States, some signs of slowing economic

activity were seen as unlikely to spur the Federal Reserve to

start cutting interest rates before June as other data on

Thursday showed a larger-than-expected increase in producer

prices last month.

(Additional reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston and

Sudarshan Varadhan in Singapore; editing by Michael Perry and

Jason Neely)