Crude oil up on day, lower on week

Crude oil prices were higher on Friday but declined on the week after Hurricane Dean avoided US oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico and did very little damage to Mexican facilities.

Pemex, the state-owned Mexican oil company, said that it was able to resume production in the Campeche Sound a day earlier than expected because so little damage was done by the hurricane.

The offshore platforms had been shut down ahead of the hurricane.

October West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery added $1.39 to $71.22 per barrel in afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, still down on the week, while October contracts for Brent crude on the Intercontinental Exchange in London dropped 0.3 percent on the week as it gained 38 cents on the day to close at $70.24 per barrel.

Nymex September gasoline added 4 cents to $1.96 per gallon, while October natural gas dropped 2 cents to $5.83 per million British thermal units.

Many analysts expect that oil prices will decline again next week on inventories news.