US oil futures ran higher on Friday night to notch up yet another weekly gain, thanks to a combination of another fall in US oil-rig counts and the solid monthly US jobs report for April.
June crude futures rose 45c, or 0.8%, to settle at $US59.39 a barrel in New York. As a result of Friday’s gain, prices added 0.4% on the week and have now posted eight straight weeks of gains.
But Brent crude for June delivery in London lost 15c, or 0.2%, to $US65.39 a barrel on Friday and fell 1.6% for the week.
That fall and the small gain in US prices came after the mid-week sell-off as bond and sharemarkets tanked.
There was a modest decline in the weekly US oil rig count for 22 weeks straight of falls. And a survey showed that OPEC raised its monthly oil production to nearly 31 million barrels a day – the highest since November 2012.
The number of active rigs drilling for oil in the US fell 11 to 668 in the week to May 8, according to the weekly Baker Hughes survey.
This took the rig count to its lowest level since September 2010. But the fall was less than half the 24 the week before and well down on the 40 plus falls reported earlier in the year.
But the number of active oil rigs is down 57% since December in response to the drop in crude prices (but crude prices are up 50% from their lows eight weeks ago).
Earlier this week, US government figures showed a weekly decline of 3.9 million barrels in crude inventories the week before last. Analysts are looking for more falls in coming weeks.
OPEC’s production boost came as output from Saudi Arabia topped 10 million barrels a day, according to a Platts survey.
OPEC production rose by 210,000 barrels a day in April from a month earlier, to 30.93 million barrels per day. The survey said the rise was due to an increase in production from several member countries. Saudi Arabia raised output by 100,000 barrels a day
Meanwhile gold futures finished higher on Friday, scoring a weekly gain as investors digested the April jobs report.
The yield for the 10-year Treasury note fell Friday to 2.15%, and other bond yields in Europe and elsewhere also eased as the selling wave from earlier in the week disappeared.
The good jobs report also saw the US dollar ease as well on Friday.
Comex gold for June delivery climbed $US6.70, or 0.6%, to settle at $US1,188.90 an ounce in New York, which left gold up 1.2% over the week.
And Comex July silver added 16.8c, or 1%, to $US16.465 an ounce to end 2.1% higher on the week.
Comex July copper settled less than half a cent lower at $US2.9205 a pound, losing 0.3% for the week.
That was a rare losing week for the metal in the past month or so.
