Crude-oil futures closed lower Friday, with West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery giving up $1.40, or roughly 2.9%, to settle at $47.12 a barrel. Already under pressure, oil futures extended declines after oil-services firm Baker Hughes said the number of U.S. oil rigs rose by five to 664, oil-services firm Baker Hughes reported. Compared with the same time last year, the number of U.S. rigs has fallen by 909, the firm said. West Texas Intermediate oil posted its worst monthly decline of 2015, down 21%. September Brent [UK:LCOU5] also ended lower, shedding 10 cents at $52.21. Brent posted a monthly decline of 18%.
Oil futures extended a decline in the wake of the data, with September WTI crude on Nymex CLU5, -1.96% down $1.22, or 2.5%, at $47.30 a barrel.
clk5 rising $2.49, or 5.2%, to close at $50.09 a barrel. Oil futures were lifted by U.S. Energy Information Administration data that showed a small decline in domestic oil production in the week ended March 27 and a larger-than-expected drop in gasoline inventories.
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