New York: Crude oil prices fell a fourth straight session on Friday after US consumer sentiment data showed a surprise drop to the weakest level in more than a year.
US consumer sentiment unexpectedly worsened to its weakest level since August 2009, as distress over jobs and finances intensified among upper-income families, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary September reading showed.
US crude futures posted the biggest percentage weekly loss in five weeks. The slide started earlier in the week after Enbridge Inc said it would restart a major crude pipeline from Canada into the United States.
Contract expiration
US crude for October delivery fell 91 cents (Dh3.31), or 1.22 per cent, to settle at $73.66 (Dh270) per barrel, trading from $72.75 to $75.25. The October contract expires on Tuesday.
For the week, front-month US crude prices fell $2.79, or 3.65 per cent.
US November crude fell 82 cents, or 1.08 per cent, to settle at $74.92 a barrel.
ICE Brent for November fell 27 cents to settle at $78.21 a barrel. October Brent expired on Wednesday.
"The consumer sentiment report came out and the dollar strengthened, piling on after the expectation that Enbridge would restart its pipeline had already taken the steam out of front-month crude earlier in the week," said Chris Dillman, analyst, Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.
The dollar rallied against the euro and the yen as European debt concerns and the weak US consumer data eased risk appetite.
A stronger dollar can pressure oil prices because it makes dollar-denominated oil more expensive for buyers using other currencies, increases the value of the currency being paid producers and cause investors to move money from commodities to foreign exchange markets, chasing better returns.
Enbridge restart
US regulators and the company confirmed on Friday the restart of Enbridge's Line 6A pipeline, which carries up to a third of Canada's US-bound crude oil shipments.
US crude prices have been range bound much of this year but spiked to a one-month high after last week's closure of the Line 6A pipeline that brings Canadian crude to US Midwest refineries and the key Cushing, Oklahoma, oil hub.
A longer pipeline shutdown could have started to drain US stockpiles that remain well above year-ago levels, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
