Investing.com - Crude held gains in Asia on Friday with comments from Saudi Arabia's energy minister in focus as well as as weekly rig count data for the U.S. later in the day.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for April rose 0.27% to $48.88 a barrel, while on London's ICE benchmark Brent for May delivery gained 0.19% to $51.82 a barrel.
On Friday, oilfield services provider Baker Hughes on Friday will detail the latest weekly rig count for the week ended March 10. Last week, the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by 8, the eighth weekly increase in a row. That brought the total count to 617, the most since October 2015.
Brent and WTI gained after U.S. inventory data this week and assurances that a deal to trim almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) from global markets in the first six months of the year was still on track, with the possibility of an extension still dangling.
Bloomberg reported that Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the oil pact could be extended after a review of oil strategy among participants in the mid-second quarter if an inventory overhang persists. Separately, Falih told CNBC that the output cuts is on track and that the Kingdom plans to lead by example to cajole continued compliance.
Kuwait is scheduled to host a ministerial meeting on March 26 comprising both OPEC and non-OPEC members to review compliance with the output agreement and to discuss whether cuts would be extended beyond June.
The March meeting likely will see pressure brought to bear on countries that are seen as lagging on meeting commitments to trim supplies to the market, with Russia cited as still pumping near pre-deal levels.
The market saw a spurt on Wednesday after U.S. crude inventories fell by 240,000 barrels by the end of last week, the U.S. energy Information Administration (EIA) said, compared to an expected 3.2 million barrels gain.
Gasoline inventories fell by 3.1 million barrels, while distillates dropped 4.2 million barrels, compared with declines of 1.98 million barrels and 1.5 million barrels respectively. The crude draw was less than the American Petroleum Institute (API) estimate of a 530,000 barrels drop.
Overall, crude inventories at 528.2 million barrels are 7.3% higher than year-ago levels, and the storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, recorded a build of 2.13 million barrels.
Sentiment also improved following a sharp sell-off on Tuesday as the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) said the global crude oil market is headed for a deficit of supply against demand in the first half of the year if a coordinated pact to curb output to the market holds until the end of June.