Oil pumpjacks and tanks are pictured in a farmer’s field near Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Canada. (Reuters Photo)

NEW YORK- Oil prices fell on Friday as US Gulf of Mexico crude production resumed following Hurricane Francine and rising data showed a weekly rise in US rig count.

Brent crude futures settled at $71.61 a barrel, down 36 cents, or 0.5 percent. US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) settled at $68.65 a barrel, down 32 cents, or 0.5 percent.

As US Gulf Coast production and refining activity resumes, investors have opted to offload oil contracts going into the weekend, said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York.

“You could come back Monday and everything is fine – the refineries are running at 100 percent, everyone is back on the platform, oil comes back and gasoline is coming out of the refinery – and the market could potentially pull back exponentially,” Yawger said.

For the week, oil futures finished higher following sharp storm-related increases early in the week, breaking a streak of declines. Brent logged an increase of about 0.8 percent since the close of last Friday’s session, while WTI registered a roughly 1.4 percent gain.

Official data showed that, as of Thursday, the storm nearly shut in 42 percent of oil production in the region that accounts for about 15 percent of US output.

“These cuts are expected to prove brief and within the broader context are unlikely to spur much movement in the crude balances given the importance of shale production that accounts for the major portion of US output,” Ritterbusch said.