Investing.com -- Crude futures ticked up on Friday, capping a volatile week with another choppy session, as the oil rig count in the U.S. moved higher for a third consecutive week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude for August delivery traded between $45.05 and $46.30 a barrel before closing at $45.95, up $0.27 or 0.55% on the session. On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), brent crude for September delivery wavered between $46.66 and $48.05 a barrel, before settling at $47.56 or 0.20 or 0.42% on the day.
Crude ended the week with back-to-back winning sessions, after plunging 4% on Wednesday following a lower than expected supply draw in the U.S. last week. For the week, both the international and U.S. benchmarks of crude closed slightly higher.
On Friday, oil services firm Baker Hughes reported that U.S. oil rigs rose by six to 357 for the week ending on July 8, increasing for the sixth time over the last seven weeks. Despite the continued gains, oil rigs throughout the U.S. are still down by 281 over the last 12 months. The total rig count increased by six to 447, as gas rigs inched up by 1 to 90. During the first week of June, the overall count moved higher for the first time in 2016 ending a 41-week drought.
Elsewhere, oil prices also received a boost by favorable data in China after the government reported second quarter GDP growth of 6.7%, in line with consensus estimates and unchanged from the previous quarter. For the quarter, retail sales and industrial output rose 10.6% and 6.2% respectively, outweighing declines of 2.8% in fixed asset investment growth. In the wake of the slowest economic growth in China over the last two decades, economic conditions this year in the world's second-largest economy easing investors' concerns on a potential collapse.
At the same time, refinery processing in China last month spiked 3.2% to 45.08 million tons or nearly 11 million bpd, according to the nation's National Bureau of Statistics. Still, China's oil production over the first half plunged 4.6% on an annual basis dropping to its lowest level in six years. China consumes approximately 9.4 million barrels of oil per day, second in the world below the U.S.
Elsewhere, the U.S. House Intelligence Committee declassified 28 pages from a congressional inquiry into the September 11 attacks. Some analysts expressed concern in recent weeks that the release could fracture the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia in the energy trade. White House officials said on Friday that the reports show no evidence of a role from the Saudi government in helping coordinate the attacks.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, jumped more than 0.55% to an intra-session high of 96.69, amid strong retail sales and industrial production data. The index has still declined by approximately 3% since early-December.
Dollar denominated commodities such as crude become more expensive for foreign purchasers when the dollar appreciates.