Crude oil futures trimmed their initial gains and settled lower on Friday amid reports that the debt ceiling talks paused after Republican negotiators walked out the meeting, offsetting recent optimism about an impending deal. Comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that inflation remains ‘far above’ the central bank's objective, and that no decisions had been made yet on the next interest rate action also weighed on markets. Meanwhile, according to a report from Baker Hughes, the oil rig count in the U.S. dropped by 11 to 575 this week, the biggest weekly decline since September 2021.
Benchmark crude oil futures for June delivery fell $0.31 or about 0.4 percent to settle at $71.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for July delivery declined $0.14 or 0.17 percent to settle at $75.72 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.