Investing.com - Crude futures were mixed in European trading on Friday as fresh signs of inventory building and the Fed's rate hike this week kept prices under pressure amid a global glut of oil that shows no sign of abating, prompting traders to buy more put options.
U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate futures were down 9 cents at $34.86 a barrel. Brent was up 12 cents at $37.18 a barrel.
Both contracts are on track to post a third week of losses, with U.S. crude down 2.2 percent and Brent off by 2 percent.
Traders are preparing for even lower crude prices next year, taking up increasing amounts of put options to sell U.S. crude in February should prices fall to $30, $25 or even $20 per barrel, according to Reuters data.