U.S. Oil production now exceeds imports

By Myra P. Saefong and William L. Watts, MarketWatch

U.S. oil production in October exceeds imports for the first time in 18 years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The modest losses for Nymex oil on Thursday came amid U.S. government data showing a rise in crude supplies for the eighth straight week.

In other energy trading Friday, December gasoline -0.80%  slipped nearly 3 cents, or 1%, to $2.66 a gallon on Nymex, giving back about half of the almost 6-cent rise the day before. Prices ended 4.1% higher than a week ago.

December heating oil +0.32%  added less than a penny to finish at $2.94 a gallon, up 2.3% on the week, while December natural gas +1.08%  closed at $3.66 per million British thermal units, up 5.5 cents, or 1.5% — for a 2.8% climb for the week. Myra Saefong is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.

William L. Watts is MarketWatch's senior markets writer, based in New York. Michael Kitchen in Los Angeles contributed to this report.