Investing.com -- U.S. crude futures closed moderately higher on Friday, as the count of domestic oil rigs fell slightly last week resuming their trend downward after a brief impasse a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude for January delivery traded in a range of $41.37 and $42.05 a barrel before settling at $41.88, up 0.15 or 0.35% on the session. After falling below $40 a barrel earlier this week for the first time in 10 weeks, U.S. crude futures rallied to close the week up by more than 2%. WTI crude is still near August lows when it fell to its lowest levels since the height of the Financial Crisis.
On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), brent crude for January delivery wavered between $44.07 and $45.50 before closing at $44.62, up 0.47 or 1.06% on the day. North Sea brent futures ended the week up 2.5%, after closing in the green in four of five sessions on the week. In afternoon trading, brent futures jumped to their highest level in more than a week.
Meanwhile, the spread between the international and U.S. domestic benchmarks of crude stood at $2.74, up from Thursday's level of $2.47 at the close of trading.
Both benchmarks have crashed by more than 40% over the last year since OPEC rattled global energy markets with its decision to leave its production ceiling above 30 million barrels per day. The strategy triggered a race with U.S. shale producers for market share, pushing prices sharply lower amid a glut of oversupply.
Crude futures surged on Friday afternoon after oil services firm Baker Hughes (N:BHI) said in its weekly rig count that U.S. oil rigs fell by 10 last week to 564. A week earlier, the rig count rose by two to 574, halting an extended streak that lasted nearly three months. The rig count nationwide is still down substantially from its level 12 months ago when it hovered near 1,500.
Investors have kept a close eye on the total of domestic oil rigs online, amid forecasts for sharp declines in U.S. output in 2016. Last week, production held steady at approximately 9.18 million barrels per day. In June, U.S. output surged above 9.6 million bpd, its highest level in more than 40 years.
Geopolitical concerns also remained in focus, after at least 170 hostages were kidnapped in an attack at a Mali hotel, which claimed the lives of 10 people, according to CNN. Two hours after the situation was resolved, no group immediately claimed responsibility for the mass-shooting, CNN reported. It came in the wake of last Friday's coordinated attacks in Paris, where at least 120 civilians were killed and at least 350 others were wounded.
In response, France, Russia and the U.S. launched a series of air strikes this week, targeting numerous oilfields in Eastern Syria controlled by the Islamic State. On Thursday, Reuters reported that some forms of Iraqi crude have been trading as low as $30 a barrel, amid near-record supply in the Gulf state. Earlier this year, ISIS generated around $40 million a month in oil revenue from black market sales in the region, according to U.S. Treasury Department estimates.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, surged more than 0.50% on Friday to an intraday high of 99.70. On Wednesday, the index reached as high as 99.97 on the final session of a four-day winning streak, jumping to its strongest level since mid-March.
Dollar-denominated commodities such as crude become more expensive for foreign purchasers when the dollar appreciates.