Singapore : Crude oil futures erased earlier losses on Friday but the U.S. benchmark price was set to lose ground for the second week, squeezed by record U.S. production and expectations of OPEC boosting output.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 11 cents to stand at $67.15 a barrel by 0702 GMT, bouncing off a session low of $66.81 a barrel having fallen almost 2 percent on Thursday.
The global benchmark, Brent crude, little changed in the previous session, was up 16 cents, at $77.72 per barrel.
Brent prices traded as low as $77.36 a barrel on Friday. For the week, WTI was on track for a 1.5 percent fall, adding to last week´s near 5 percent decline, while Brent was set to rise 1.3 percent, widening the spread between the two benchmarks. U.S. crude production has been rising to record levels since late last year.
