Oil prices fell on Friday after a consultancy report forecast a rise in OPEC production for July despite the group's pledge to curb output, reigniting concerns the market will stay awash with crude. Petro-Logistics, which tracks OPEC supply forecasts, said OPEC crude production would rise by 145,000 barrels per day (bpd) this month, taking the group's combined output above 33 million bpd. Higher supply from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Nigeria would drive this month's gains, it said.

Transportation prices fell in February at the fastest rate recorded in the six-and-a-half-year history of a monthly survey of supply chain executives. The Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI) registered a reading of 36.1 for transportation costs in February, 5.9 percentage points lower than in January and below the prior record, which was established in December. A level below 50 indicates contraction while one above signals expansion. The report said the rate declines were “a little more pronounced in the later portions of the month than in the beginning of the month.” “February is generally a low point seasonally due to the consumer spending hangover from the holidays in the U.S. combined with slowness in imports due to Chinese New Year, and that was certainly reflected this year,” the report stated.

American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 0.777297; American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.149831; American Dollar to Euro = 1.056617; American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.007659; American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.049546.