Oil futures settled lower on Friday, but prices posted a gain for the week. A weaker-than-expected rise in August U.S. nonfarm payrolls fed concerns that a “U.S. hiring slowdown could be a short-term drag for the demand outlook” on oil, said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda. “Normally, a weaker-than-expected employment report sends the dollar lower and supports commodity prices, but today’s release did not do that.” Meanwhile, oil prices saw support overall for the week with Gulf of Mexico oil production “still mostly down,” said Moya. The recovery for output has been slow, with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement reporting Friday that an estimated 93.33% of oil production in the Gulf remains shut in. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery fell 70 cents, or 1%, to settle at $69.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, prices based on the front-month contract gained 0.8%, FactSet data show.
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