Oil futures settled higher on Friday, with the U.S. benchmark erasing its losses for the week, as traders considered the outlook for crude supplies and demand following another fall in U.S. oil-rig counts and an upbeat monthly jobs report.
A report Friday showed a modest decline in the weekly U.S. oil rig count, but that count has now fallen by 22 weeks straight. Also, a Platts survey showed that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries raised its monthly oil production to nearly 31 million barrels a day—the highest since November 2012.
June crude rose 45 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $59.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Tracking the most-active contracts, prices gained 0.4% on the week and have posted eight straight weeks of gains. Brent crude for June delivery on London’s ICE Futures exchange lost 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $65.39 a barrel, about 1.6% lower for the week. “This week has been a lesson in volatility, as Libya reminded us that their production was still uncertain, and U.S. crude inventories dropped, but because of lower imports,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research.
Earlier this week, U.S. government data showed a weekly decline of 3.9 million barrels in crude inventories and protesters blocked an oil port in Libya. “Crude…has gone a little too far too fast and looking deeper into the numbers, imports were down last week,” said Tariq Zahir, a managing member at Tyche Capital Advisors. “Bottom line is we are still seeing production here in the U.S. not come down in any significant way.”
Oil rig counts as reported by Baker Hughes have now shown declines for 22 weeks straight. The number of U.S. rigs actively drilling for oil fell 11 rigs to 668. Nymex oil dropped 3.3% Thursday on concerns about how much oil Iran may add to the global market if sanctions are lifted.
“On the charts, the 7-week-old counter trend rally was broken yesterday, leaving the technical outlook on oil neutral at best,” said Tyler Richey, an analyst for the 7:00’s Report, adding there’s a “band of initial support” between $57.50 and $58.00. Data released Fridayshowed that the U.S. saw 223,000 new jobs in April. “The economic outlook remains positive, which should augur well for summer gasoline demand, but there is always the risk that markets will get ahead of the news,” Lynch said.