Investing.com - Oil futures settled a bit higher on Friday, but prices still suffered their fourth straight weekly loss as the market weighed rising U.S. drilling against ongoing efforts by major producers to cut output to reduce a global glut.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude July contract inched up 28 cents, or around 0.6%, to end at $44.74 a barrel by close of trade Friday. It touched its lowest since May 5 at $44.22 on Thursday.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for August delivery advanced 45 cents to settle at $48.15 a barrel by close of trade, after hitting a daily trough of $47.40, a level not seen since May 5.
For the week, WTI lost $1.13, or about 2.4%, while Brent fell 78 cents, or roughly 1.6%. Both have now posted losses four weeks in a row, which marks the longest weekly losing streak since August 2015 for WTI.
Concern that the ongoing rebound in U.S. shale production is derailing efforts by other major producers to rebalance the market remained in focus.
Data from energy services company Baker Hughes showed on Friday that U.S. drillers last week added rigs for the 22nd week in a row, the longest such streak on record, implying that further gains in domestic production are ahead.
The U.S. rig count rose by six to 747, extending a year-long drilling recovery to the highest level since April 2015.
The increase in U.S. drilling activity and shale production has mostly offset efforts by OPEC and other producers to cut output in a move to prop up the market.
Last month, OPEC and some non-OPEC producers extended a deal to cut 1.8 million barrels per day in supply until March 2018.
So far, the production-cut agreement has had little impact on global inventory levels due to rising supply from producers not participating in the accord, such as Libya and Nigeria, and a relentless increase in U.S. shale oil output.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for July tacked on 1.9 cents, or about 1.3% to end at $1.454 on Friday. It still closed down around 3.1% for the week.
July heating oil added 1.2 cents to finish at $1.427 a gallon. For the week, the fuel declined roughly 0.3%.
Natural gas futures for July delivery shed 1.9 cents to settle at $3.037 per million British thermal units. It saw a weekly loss of less than 0.1%.
In the week ahead, market participants will eye fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products on Tuesday and Wednesday to gauge the strength of demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.
Meanwhile, traders will also continue to pay close attention to comments from global oil producers for evidence that they are complying with their agreement to reduce output this year.
Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of these and other significant events likely to affect the markets.
Tuesday, June 20
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, is to publish its weekly report on U.S. oil supplies.
Wednesday, June 21
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is to release weekly data on oil and gasoline stockpiles.
Thursday, June 22
The U.S. government is set to produce a weekly report on natural gas supplies in storage.
Friday, June 23
Baker Hughes will release weekly data on the U.S. oil rig count.