Futures fell 0.3% in New York after climbing 2.5 percent in the previous two sessions. Drillers boosted the rig count by two to 751, a three-month high, according to Baker Hughes data on Friday. OPEC-led output curbs may end earlier than scheduled if the market re-balances by June, Kuwait’s then-oil minister said Sunday. Oil is heading for a second yearly gain as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia extend supply cuts through the end of 2018. The extension includes an agreement to review the cuts in June, raising questions of how OPEC will eventually phase out the reductions. Shale explorers have signaled they’re gearing up for a drilling surge next year as hedging rose for an eighth week to a record. Click Read More below for additional information.

Brent crude oil hit a more than three-year high on Thursday, breaking through the psychologically important $70 a barrel level for the first time since December 2014. Oil futures failed to hold the gains, selling off as the close of trading approached, with analysts warning that the market might have little room left to run. Oil prices have been supported by stronger-than-expected demand fueled by worldwide economic growth, ongoing output limits by OPEC and Russia and a series of global events that have stoked geopolitical tension. Click Read More below for additional information.

Futures fell 2.5 percent in New York. China’s oil refining dropped the most in three years in July, while crude output retreated from the highest this year. Libya’s biggest oil field, Sharara, cut output by more than 30 percent because of security threats, a person familiar with the matter said. Meanwhile, the dollar strengthened, eroding the lure of commodities as a store of value. "We’re seeing some strength in the dollar, and the preponderance of news seems to be favoring the bears right now," Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group Inc. in Chicago, said by telephone. "If you look at the China data this morning, when it came to the China refinery runs being down in July, that’s adding to the perception of slowing demand, and it’s offsetting the concerns about Libyan oil production." Click Read More below for additional detail.