Strong U.S. consumer spending, but lower economic growth estimates, left oil markets drifting in relatively flat territory early in the Friday trading session.

The price for Brent, the global crude oil benchmark, drifted barely into positive territory to trade near the $49 per barrel mark early Friday, still showing an inability to recover above the $50 threshold for the year.

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, gained about 25 cents from the previous day to trade at $44.40, roughly 15 percent lower than the start of 2015.

Low oil prices are hurting major exporting economies like Russia, but are providing stimulus to importers and energy consumers.

While low energy prices translated to the fastest rate for consumer spending in close to a decade, the U.S. Commerce Department said Friday gross domestic product grew by 2.6 percent annually, against a 5 percent gain during third quarter 2014.

Eurostat, the statistics office for the European Union, reported annual inflation for January was at minus 0.6 percent, a further contraction from the minus 0.2 percent reported in December.

"This negative rate for euro area annual inflation in January is driven by the fall in energy prices," the office said Friday.

Negative inflation in the European economy follows last week's decision from the European Central Bank to launch a bond-buying initiative.

Beginning in March, the ECB said it would purchase bonds valued at more than $65 billion per month through September 2016 as part of a so-called quantitative easing program meant to stimulate the struggling European economy.