Ahead the release of the crucial US inflation figures that could provide insight into future interest rate changes and the strength of the currency, oil prices fell on Friday, with benchmarks on track for their worst monthly performances since November.

Brent futures climbed by 0.8% at $78.64 per barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slumped by 0.5% to $73.93 per barrel.

The Federal Reserve constantly monitors personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation in the United States, and markets are currently awaiting such numbers.

According to economists surveyed by Reuters, the core PCE index will decline from 0.4% in January to 0.4% in February and will essentially hold steady at 4.7% annually.

As the northern export pipeline was shut down, producers at a number of oilfields in northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region cut output or shut them down entirely, which helped to boost oil prices.

The fact that China's manufacturing activity increased in March and outperformed forecasts, albeit at a slower rate than the record-breaking expansion in February, has also helped to maintain prices.