Oil futures finished lower on Friday as optimism surrounding a U.S. debt ceiling faded, but prices still notched a gain of more than 2% for the week. Natural-gas futures, meanwhile, ended sharply higher for the week, buoyed by prospects for tighter supplies. “Crude prices were having a great week as the U.S. economic outlook dramatically improved as lawmakers seem likely to reach a deal on the debt ceiling,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. However, “debt ceiling optimism quickly disappeared on Friday and that sent oil prices sharply lower.” June West Texas Intermediate crude CLM23 fell 31 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $71.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 2.2% for the week, according to Dow Jones Market Data. June natural gas NGM23 shed a penny, or 0.3%, to settle at $2.59 per million British thermal units, posting a weekly rise of 14.1%.
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