Crude-oil prices fell Friday, but not enough to raise concerns about the three-month rally that has brought oil to its highest levels in a year.
Friday's trading was light and represented a break from the recent sessions of heavy volume and wide price swings.Light sweet crude oil for delivery in August settled at $19.32 per barrel, down 10 cents, at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude reached a low of $19.15 during the day, but held off from slipping closer to the $19 mark.
Since the July contract expired earlier in the week, crude prices have settled into the mid-$19 range.
The high prices in the United States have prompted a new rush of imports that has raised some expectations that higher supplies will dampen the price climb.