Gulf of Mexico and the Middle East in the foreground

Oil prices rose on Friday as US oil producers in the Gulf of Mexico cut their production by more than half in the face of the tropical storm and continued tensions in the Middle East.

Futures contracts on Brent rose 37 cents, or 0.6%, to $ 66.89 per barrel at 11:05 am GMT. The international benchmark stood at $ 67.52 a barrel, down 0.7% Thursday after reaching its highest level since May 30th.

WTI futures (West Texas Intermediate) rose 34 cents, or 0.6%, to $ 60.54 a barrel. The US benchmark closed down 0.38% on Thursday, after reaching its highest level since May 23 at $ 60.94.

Thursday, oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico had reduced their production by more than a million barrels per day, accounting for 53% of production in the region, because of Tropical Storm Barry.

It was predicted that the storm would become a Category 1 hurricane with winds of at least 74 miles to the hour (119 km to the hour).

"Brent crude has spread its gains, storms in the Gulf of Mexico have halted oil production and US oil stocks have continued to decline more than expected," ANZ Bank said in a note.

Crude oil inventories in the United States declined for four consecutive weeks. US crude oil inventories fell by 9.5 million barrels in the week to July 5, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced, more than triple the expected 3.1 million barrels by badysts.

At the same time, Iran's alleged attempt to block a British-owned tanker has exacerbated tensions in the Middle East as a result of attacks on oil tankers and the destruction of the US drone by the United States. Iran in June.

"If a large-scale military conflict remains the least likely scenario, the sharp increases in the cost of insurance will allow for the transportation of the most expensive crude and will allow new routes to be explored, delaying arrivals of crude, "said Edward Moya, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA in New York.

However, the oil demand outlook of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reduced to 2020 limited price gains. OPEC said the world would need 29.27 million bpd of crude from its 14 members by 2020, a decrease of 1.34 million bpd this year.