Oil prices climbed on Friday after data showed another dip in U.S. oil rig count.
The West Texas Intermediate for June delivery rose 1.19 U.S. dollars to settle at 24.74 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for July delivery advanced 1.51 dollars to close at 30.97 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil dropped by 33 to 292 this week, oilfield services company Baker Hughes reported on Friday. The oil rig count has now fallen for eight weeks in a row.
The front-month contract for the U.S. oil benchmark rose 25.1 percent for the week. The global international benchmark notched a weekly gain of 17.1 percent.
Experts said the recent euphoria on the oil market is premature, noting uncertainties would remain.
"Demand is likely to find it more difficult to recover than many market participants seem to imagine just now," Eugen Weinberg, analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Friday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies agreed to cut output by 9.7 million barrels per day for May and June, aiming to tackle a global supply glut on the back of the COVID-19 crisis.
Editor:Cherie
