NEW YORK: Oil prices fell more than 2 per cent on Friday as traders grew less fearful of prolonged supply disruptions from a hurricane in the US Gulf of Mexico, while China’s latest economic-stimulus packages failed to impress some oil traders. US West Texas Inter­mediate futures led the decline, down 2.8pc, or $2.01, at 70.35 per barrel by 1:32 p.m. ET (1832 GMT). Global benchmark Brent crude futures fell 2.3pc, or $1.77, to $73.86 per barrel. Energy producers shut in more than 22pc of oil output in the US Gulf of Mexico by Thursday as a precautionary measure to brace against Hurricane Rafael, helping lift oil prices by more than 1pc in the prior session. However, the latest forecasts on Rafael’s trajectory and intensity reduced the risk to oil production from the US Gulf. “Threats of supply outages due to Hurricane Rafael are subsiding as the storms shifts to circling in the center of the Gulf of Mexico for the next 5 days or so,” Alex Hodes, analyst at brokerage firm StoneX told clients in a note. The storm, which left a trail of destruction in Cuba this week, had weakened to a Category 2 hurricane on Friday, according to the US National Hurricane Centre’s latest advisory.