Investing.com – Crude settled more than 1% higher on Friday, as oil prices rebounded after a sell-off in the prior session while the number of U.S. oil rigs rose for the seventh straight week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for May delivery gained $0.73 to settle at $53.33 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent climbed 78 cents to settle at $55.86 a barrel.
Dollar-dominated crude benefited from a slump in the dollar, which tanked more than 0.5%, following comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen, as she signalled that a rate hike in March would be “appropriate”, as long as inflation and employment data continued to show robust growth.
Meanwhile, data from Baker Hughes on Friday revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by 7 to 609 rigs this week. It was the seventh straight weekly increase and added to concerns that record levels of U.S. crude stockpiles may curtail OPEC's efforts to rebalance supply and demand in the industry.
On Wednesday an Energy Information Agency (EIA) report showed crude inventories in the United States rose for an eight straight week to a record 520.2 million barrels for the week ended Feb 24.
The build-up in U.S. crude oil inventories to record high levels, overshadowed a Reuters survey on Tuesday that found OPEC cut its oil output for a second month in February, following a record high compliance level by OPEC members in January.