Supply disruption worries send crude prices higher

Crude oil prices were higher on Friday on worries that North Sea and Louisiana supplies could be disrupted. In the North Sea, Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority threatened to close oil fields there because facilities there did not provide adequate lifeboats in case of emergency. A closure there could halt 200,000 barrels per day in production. Meanwhile, a tugboat accident that resulted in two deaths when two boats hit a gas pipeline cut production at a small oil and gas field that produces the equivalent of 4,000 barrels per day.

Brent crude November contracts were up $1.36 to $60.12 per barrel, a gain of 0.5 percent for the week, while West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery added $1.27 to $59.13 per barrel on Friday but was still down 1 percent for the week.