Investing.com - Crude prices held mild gains into Asia on Friday with rig count figures from the U.S. and the ebb further signals on demand expected to be the main drivers of views now swinging back to a market rebalancing supply and demand.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for September delivery rose 0.16% to $49.12 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent was last quoted t $51.62 a barrel.
Ahead, the Baker Hughes weekly rig report for U.S. activity will set the tone on supply prospects.
Overnight, crude futures settled higher on Thursday, as investors continue to cheer signs that rising demand will offset excess supplies in the second half of the year amid a larger-than-expected draw in U.S. supplies.
Crude advanced to eight-week highs on Thursday, as investor expectations grew that U.S. crude supplies would continue to drop during the second half of the year, easing the global glut in supply.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Wednesday, crude and gasoline stockpiles fell by more than expected last week, pointing to an uptick in demand for crude and refinery activity.
Inventories of U.S. crude fell by roughly 7.2m barrels in the week ended July 14, confounding expectations of a draw of about only 2.6m barrels while gasoline inventories, one of the products that crude is refined into, fell by roughly 1m.
Crude prices remained on track to post a weekly gain amid an uptick in sentiment on oil, following news that Saudi Arabia plans to lower crude exports to 6.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, almost 1 million bpd below the level last year.
Rising U.S. oil production, however, is expected to limit upside momentum in oil prices, offsetting positive impact of falling U.S. crude stockpiles which has pushed crude prices near the key $50 a barrel level.
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