Investing.com - Crude oil prices rose in Asia on Friday as investors looked ahead to rig count data in the U.S. for direction and noted that a hurricane off the U.S. East Coast was not a direct threat to supplies for now.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude for November delivery rose 1.03% to $45.20 a barrel.
Last week, industry research group Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) said late Friday that the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. decreased by four last week to 640, the fourth straight weekly decline.
A lower U.S. rig count is usually a bullish sign for oil as it signals potentially lower production in the future.
Reports said that powerful Hurricane Joaquin, which battered the Bahamas with torrential rain, powerful winds, is now seen as less likely to pose a major threat to the U.S. East Coast, citing the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
China's markets are closed for the National Day holidays and will re-open on Oct. 8
In Japan, the August unemployment rate ticked up to 3.4%, from an expected steady 3.3%, while household spending jumped 2.9%, compared to a gain of 0.4% on year in real terms, the first rise in three months.
As well, the BoJ's September corporate inflation outlook said firms see a rise of 1.2% in CPI in one year,and a 1.4% gain in three years.
Overnight, U.S. crude futures inched down on Thursday, as investors digested reports of a significant build in domestic inventories last week while the ramifications of a comprehensive Iranian nuclear deal on the global supply glut remained in focus.
On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Brent crude for November delivery wavered between $47.65 and $49.83 a barrel, before closing at $47.67, down 0.68 or 1.40% on the session. Meanwhile, the spread between the international and U.S. domestic benchmarks of crude stood at $2.92, below Wednesday's level of $3.23 at the close of trading.
Energy traders continued to react to Wednesday's government report from the U.S. Department of Energy, which showed that crude stockpiles nationwide rose by 4.0 million barrels for the week ending on Sept. 25. The build halted a two-week streak of considerable draws of at least 1.9 million barrels. Analysts expected a slight draw of 0.5 million barrels last week. At 457.9 million barrels, U.S. crude inventories remain near its highest level at this time of the year in at least 80 years.
U.S. production, though, fell significantly on the week by 40,000 barrels per day, falling below 9.1 million bpd for the first time in 11 months. Plunging oil prices have forced U.S shale producers to slash output from its summer levels when it soared to 40-year highs.
Crude prices are down more than 40% over the last 12 months since OPEC roiled global markets with a strategic decision to leave its production ceiling unchanged above 30 million barrels last November. The tactic has triggered a prolonged battle for market share with the U.S., saturating energy markets with excess supply and causing prices to fall precipitously.
Also on Thursday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the global community he believes the Iran Nuclear Deal will have dire effects on Israel and increases the likelihood of creating a war in the region. Addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Netanyahu criticized a group of Western Powers for reaching an accord with Iran earlier this summer.
"Throughout our history, the Jewish people have learned the heavy price of silence. Those days are over," Netanyahu said, while issuing a warning to Iran that its plans to destroy Israel "will fail."
Separately, Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank Group, told CNBC on Thursday that oil prices could fall an additional $10 a barrel when Iran comes fully back online after a wide range of economic sanctions against the Gulf State are lifted. It has been estimated that Iran could ramp up its crude exports by a million barrels per day within a year of the easing of full sanctions.