Oil prices fell on Friday, weighed down by a drop in the U.S. equities market, but Brent was still set for a weekly increase, supported by easing trade tensions and a temporary shutdown by Saudi Arabia of a key crude oil shipping lane, APA reports quoting Reuters.
Brent crude futures fell 28 cents to $74.26 a barrel by 1:17 p.m. EDT (1717 GMT), but were on track for a 1.6 percent weekly increase.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 94 cents to $68.67 a barrel, and were set for a fourth week of declines, falling 2.6 percent.
Volume was light, with less than 361,000 U.S. crude contracts changing hands as of 1:19 p.m. EDT, compared with a 10-month daily average of about 587,000 contracts.
Depressing oil prices, U.S. stock markets broadly fell on Friday.