Oil futures finished with a loss on Friday, but scored their second weekly gain in a row.
Prices during the session cut their losses following data showing a weekly decline in the number of active U.S. oil-drilling rigs. Oil’s moves came as monthly U.S. jobs data offered a mixed picture of the labor market, but perhaps did little to directly influence the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates. The jobs report was “not weak enough to dampen expectations for an interest-rate hike later this month,” said Matt Smith, a commodity analyst at ClipperData.
October West Texas Intermediate crude fell 70 cents, or 1.5%, to settle at $46.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after touching an intraday low of $45.71. For the week, however, prices rose 1.8%. October Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $1.07, or 2.1%, to $49.61 a barrel, losing roughly 0.9% for the week.
Baker Hughes said Friday that the number of active oil-drilling rigs fell 13 to 662 as of Sept. 4. The total active rig count, which includes natural-gas rigs, was at 864, also down 13 rigs. “The drop in drilling rigs for last week could be a producer response to the new six-year low in prices hit back on August 24,” Tim Evans, energy futures specialist at Citi Futures told MarketWatch. “But it’s also interesting to note that the last time the oil-rig count declined by 13 was on May 29, which suggests a possible link between the Memorial Day holiday period and Labor Day,” he said.
Meanwhile, other data released Friday showed that the pace of hiring in the U.S. slowed in August. Traders looked to the data to provide hints on when the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates. Higher interest rates tend to support the U.S. dollar DXY, -0.19%which, in turn, can put pressure on dollar-denominated prices of commodities, including oil. “Oil is still vulnerable to any hint from labor data regarding total expected fuel demand, so the weaker-than-consensus jobs data told the oil market that fuel demand might not be strong enough,” said Richard Hastings, macro strategist at Global Hunter Securities.
In the previous session, oil got a boost from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi hinting at expanded stimulus in response to volatile markets. Oil traders have also been weighing the prospects for a production cut from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries as some members push for an emergency meeting of the group.