Investing.com - U.S. crude oil prices continued to fall on Friday as investors waited for rig count data later in the day.
West Texas Crude oil futures fell 0.63% to $69.17 a barrel as of 11:18 AM ET (15:18 GMT). Meanwhile Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., decreased 0.01% to $74.53.
Investors are looking ahead to weekly rig count data from Baker Hughes, which comes out at 1:00 PM ET (17:00 GMT) and is a leading indicator of demand for oil products.
Data from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed U.S. crude supplies fell last week.
Inventories of U.S. crude fell by 6.147 million barrels for the week ended July 20, much more than expectations for a draw of 2.600 million barrels, according to data from the EIA.
Meanwhile Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil exporter in the world, said it was temporarily halting oil shipments through the Red Sea after an attack by Yemen’s Houthi movement.
The shipments through the shipping lane of Bab al-Mandeb links Egypt’s Suez canal and SUMED crude pipeline. An estimated 4.8 million barrels per day flow through the Bab al-Mandeb in 2016, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
In other news, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said on Friday the market remained volatile and had priced in risks related to U.S. sanctions against Iran.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, which include Russia, are not considering boosting production by more than 1 million barrels per day, he added.
OPEC agreed in June to raise output at a nominal increase of 1 million bpd amid pressure from the U.S. to decrease prices. While OPEC members are expected to add around 700,000 barrels a day, non-OPEC oil suppliers led by Russia would add the rest.
In other energy trading, Gasoline RBOB Futures increased 0.71% at $2.1734 a gallon, while heating oil fell 0.11% to $2.1746 a gallon. Natural gas futures were up 0.91% to $2.787 per million British thermal units.