Oil futures ended lower on Friday after Reuters reported that oil firms in Norway reached a wage agreement with labor union officials, ending a strike that could have led to 25% reduction in the nation’s output next week.
U.S. prices, however, scored a weekly gain of 9.6% with most energy production in the Gulf of Mexico shut down as Hurricane Delta looked set to made landfall along the southwestern Louisiana coast Friday evening.
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement estimated that 91.55% of Gulf oil production and 62.17% of natural-gas output was shut in as of Friday.
November West Texas Intermediate crude fell 59 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $40.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Benchmark Brent Crude finished down 49 cents for a 1.13% decline to $42.85 in Europe’s ICE futures.
Source: MarketWatch