Despite a recent upswing in oil futures, crude prices fell on Friday as investors feared that producers may increase output, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
June West Texas Intermediate crude lost 49 cents, or 1.1%, to end trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $46.21 a barrel. WTI crude bounced back from last week, posting a weekly gain of 3.5% for the week.
On the London ICE Futures Exchange, July Brent crude slipped 25 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $47.83 a barrel. For the week, Brent crude rose 5.3%.
Michael Poulsen, oil risk manager at the Copenhagen-based Global Risk Management, predicted that Brent crude may rise to $49 a barrel.
Baker Hughes weekly rig count showed the number of active oil rigs dropped by ten, resulting in the eighth consecutive weekly decline.
June natural gas slid 5.9 cents, or 2.7%, on Friday, ending trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $2.096 per million British thermal units. Overall, natural gas settled at a weekly loss of 0.2%.