The US again “flooding” the oil market with their supplies

Oil prices on Friday were set to fall for the week as surging U.S. output and an expected supply increase from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) weighed on markets.

Brent crude oil futures were at $70.38 per barrel at 0440 GMT, down 37 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $61.61 per barrel.

Brent is set for a weekly fall of 2.5 percent, while WTI has declined 2.6 percent so far, its second straight weekly drop.

“Oil prices have fallen as the pressure of record U.S. output levels continues to weigh,” said Mihir Kapadia, chief executive officer of Sun Global Investments.

U.S. crude oil production reached a record 12.3 million barrels per day (bpd) last week, rising by around 2 million bpd over the past year. U.S. crude exports broke through 3 million bpd for the first time this year, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.

Traders said prices also fell as Russia started sending clean oil through a pipeline towards western Europe, after several countries last week halted imports because of contamination. In Poland, the government released strategic reserves to ensure supply.