Oil Falls 5.4% for Week

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rude oil futures were down for the fourth straight week, slipping more than a dollar to close below $61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday, Bloomberg reported.

Crude oil prices fell $1.04 to settle at $60.55 a barrel on news that Iran may be willing to participate in negotiations surrounding its nuclear program Bloomberg said.

A Department of Energy report revealing a greater-than-expected U.S. supply of distillate fuels also contributed to the decline, Bloomberg reported.

In addition, commodity traders became more cautious following news that Amaranth Advisors, a hedge fund, lost $6 billion this month on natural gas speculation, Bloomberg said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration approved on Friday a request from BP to restart and test a pipeline at its Prudhoe Bay oil field that has been shut down since a leak was discovered there in early August.