Drone attacks on Russian refineries sent crude prices climbing on Friday

Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries produced a gain in crude oil prices on Friday. The attacks resulted in a cut in Russia’s fuel exports.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 71 cents or 1.02% to settle at $70.13 a barrel.

West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark in the U.S. finished up 74 cents or 1.14% at $65.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Reuters reported both benchmarks are set to register their biggest increases since mid-June.

Natural gas prices fell 2.38% for the day after dropping $0.069 to settle at $2.835 MMBtu.

Russian leaders announced the introduction of a partial ban on diesel exports until the end of the year. Several regions in the country are facing shortages of fuel because of the drone attacks on refineries.

Flip-flopping Oklahoma energy stocks ended the week on Friday with only a few firms recording losses. Unit Corporation rose 4% while a number of firms, Devon Energy, Empire Petroleum, Helmerich & Payne, and ONE Gas had gains of 3%.