Crude oil futures declined on Friday as investor opted for profit taking. Some negative sentiment was also seen in the market due to reduced consumer sentiment report. President of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Massachusetts commented, “The consumer sentiment (data) didn’t help … People figured, better to stay out for the weekend.”

According to the latest report of University of Michigan consumer sentiment dropped to 54.9 for the month of August as compared to 63.7 in July.

Crude oil futures contract for September delivery dropped 0.4 percent or $0.34 to $85.38 per barrel on Friday. Crude oil has declined 1 percent for the current week.

Among other commodities gasoline futures contract for September delivery plunged 0.2 percent or $0.01 to $2.82 per gallon. For the week the respective contract was down by 0.3 percent.

Heating oil futures contract for September delivery slightly gain by 0.2 percent to $2.90 per gallon. September gasoline declined 1.4 percent for the current week. Natural gas futures contract slipped 1.2 percent or $0.05 to $4.06 per million British thermal units. The respective contract was up 3 percent in the current week.