An employee checks crude oil processing equipment at the Shengli Oil Field in Dongying, Shandong province. [Photo by Hu Qingming/For China Daily]

SHANGHAI - Crude oil futures closed lower Friday in daytime trading on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange.

The most active crude oil contract for October 2020 delivery was down 2.8 yuan (41 US cents) to close at 286.3 yuan a barrel.

The total trading volume for 11 listed crude oil futures contracts on the exchange was 100,900 lots, with a turnover of about 29.3 billion yuan.

China launched the crude oil futures trading, which is open to overseas investment, in March 2018.