Investing.com -- Crude futures remained near seven-week highs following a choppy, volatile session on Friday, as energy traders largely shrugged off a considerable increase in U.S. oil rigs last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude for September delivery traded between $47.94 and $48.74 a barrel before closing at $48.45, up 0.23 or 0.48% on the session. At session-highs, the front month contract for U.S. crude hit its highest level since July 5. On the Intercontinental Exchange, Brent crude for October delivery wavered between $50.34 and $51.22 a barrel, before settling at $50.82, down 0.05 or 0.10% on the day. During the previous session, Brent futures eclipsed the $50 level for the first time since early-July.
For the week, both the international and U.S. benchmarks of crude surged by more than 8%.
On Friday afternoon, oil services firm Baker Hughes said that the U.S. weekly oil rig count rose by 10 to 406 last week. The number of oil rigs nationwide has increased in each of the last eight. Following last week's considerable gains, the oil rig count is now at its highest level since February 19. Any increases in the U.S. oil rig count typically provide lagging indication that domestic production could be on the verge of climbing. Earlier this week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said U.S. output surged by 152,000 barrels per day for the week ending on August 12, marking its strongest increase in 15 months.
Meanwhile, market players await the release of fresh weekly data from the U.S. U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday afternoon before the close of U.S. equity markets for further indications on current trading patterns from option investors. For the week ending on August 9, traders increased their short positions by 8,400 to a gross of 303,800, according to CFTC data, remaining near all-time highs.
It comes amid comments from Saudi Arabia oil minister Khalid Al-Falih on how record short positioning from traders of late has caused oil prices to overshoot. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter, pumped a record 10.67 million barrels per day in July, its highest level on record. Oil prices have also rallied over the last week amid hopes for a comprehensive output freeze by several top Middle East producers at a meeting in Algeria in late-September.
/the U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, more than 0.40% to an intraday-high of 94.60. On Thursday, the index sunk to near two-month lows, amid declining investor sentiment regarding a near-term U.S. interest rate hike.
Dollar-denominated commodities such as Crude become more expensive for foreign purchasers when the dollar appreciates.