Oil prices fall

HOUSTON: Oil prices fell on Friday as skepticism crept into the market about the Trump administration’s commitment to sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies over the war in Ukraine.

Brent crude futures settled 5 cents, or 0.1 percent, lower at USD65.94 a barrel, while US crude futures finished at USD61.50 a barrel, down 29 cents, or 0.5 percent.

Both benchmarks had risen earlier in the session, extending gains of more than 5percent made on Thursday after the sanctions were announced, but retreated in the last two hours of trading.