Oil Records Weekly Losses

Oil prices declined on Friday, amid increasing selling pressures for profit making, amid the rise of the U.S. Dollar (USD) and Treasury bond yields.

Brent crude futures declined by   44 cents, or 0.63%, to $69.19 per barrel, falling by 0.25% for the week.

Meanwhile, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures lost 0.6% to settle at $65.61 a barrel to register a weekly decline of 0.7%.

The number of active oil and natural gas rigs in the United States declined for the first week since November.

The U.S. rig count declined by a single rig to 402 this week, as oil rigs declined by one to 309, while gas rigs remained unchanged at 92, as shown by data from Baker Hughes on Friday.

The number of rigs is 49% lower than the same period of last year.