Investing.com - U.S. oil futures rose to fresh five-month highs on Friday, as a broadly weaker U.S. dollar and falling U.S. crude production continued to support.
U.S. crude futures for June delivery were last at $46.48 a barrel, the highest since November 2015, up 0.98%.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, the July Brent contract gained 0.57% to $48.05 a barrel, not far from Thursday’s five-month high of $46.18, also the highest level since November.
The dollar came under broad selling pressure after the Bank of Japan chose on Thursday to hold its monetary policy, defying market expectations for additional monetary easing.
The decision came a day after the Fed left interest rates unchanged close to zero on Wednesday and offered little guidance on future rate hikes.
Market participants were looking ahead to U.S. data on employment costs, personal spending and consumer sentiment due later Friday, for further indications on the strength of the economy following a mixed bag of reports on Thursday.
Oil prices were boosted after the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported a 15,000 barrel-per-day decline in domestic crude production to 8.938 million barrels a day. It was the seventh consecutive week of decline.
However, the report also showed that U.S. crude inventories increased by 2 million barrels last week, exceeding expectations and marking a third weekly rise.