WTI and Brent Crude Stumble on Friday, Advance for the Week

After several days of strong gains, crude oil futures settled lower on Friday, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.

On Friday, January Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 41 cents, or 0.6%, to end at $63.52 a barrel on the London ICE futures Exchange. For the week, the contract saw a 2% rise.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, January West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures declined 43 cents, or 0.8% to settle at $56.74 a barrel. For the week, WTI rose 2.3%.

Oil settlements jumped this week after Saudi Arabia detained 201 individuals including princes, businessmen and government officials after a three-year investigation, alleging that an estimated $100 billion of state funds have been embezzled. The actions helped to push oil prices to more than two-year highs this week.

OPEC will meet on November 30 in Vienna when members are expected to discuss a potential nine-month extension to the current production curb agreement that began in January.

Meanwhile, December natural gas rose 1.3 cents, or 0.4%, to close at $3.213 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, natural gas advanced 7.7%, marking its second straight weekly gain.