US crude ends below $95

US crude prices settled below $95 a barrel for the first time since April in choppy trading on Friday after the European Union said it would allow Russian state-owned companies to ship oil to third countries under an adjustment of sanctions agreed by member states this week.

US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) settled $1.65, or 1.7 per cent, lower at $94.70 a barrel, while Brent crude futures fell 66 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $103.20.

WTI closed lower for the third straight week, pummelled over the past two sessions after data showed that US gasoline demand had dropped nearly 8% from a year earlier in the midst of the peak summer driving season, hit by record prices at the pump.