Crude oil futures ended sluggish trading session slightly in green on Friday. Worries over the outlook for energy demand due to a continued surge in coronavirus cases and data showing higher crude inventories weighed on the commodity and limited its upside. US crude inventories increased by about 2 million barrels last week compared to expectations for a drop of 1.3 million barrels. As per a private report, US gasoline demand fell nearly 2% in the last week of August compared to a week earlier. According to Baker Hughes, weekly active oil-rig count in the US has dropped by 1 to 180 this week. Total weekly drilling-ring count has come down by 2 to 254.
Crude oil futures for October rose 3 cents or 0.08 percent to settle at $37.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. However, November Brent crude declined 23 cents or 0.6 percent to settle at $39.83 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.