Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for March delivery, the most actively traded contract, soared $1.57 or 3.1 percent to settle at $52.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday. Crude prices for March delivery scaled a high of $53.43 a barrel intraday and a low of $51.03.
U.S. crude oil soared to end sharply higher for a second straight session Friday, on improved market sentiment with an uptick in the Eurozone economy and declining rig counts in the U.S. even as oil producers continue to cut spending on drilling. Investors expect the trend to help thin supplies and lift demand for oil. The uptick comes amid recent data showing continued build-up in U.S. crude stockpiles.
For the week, oil futures gained 2.1 percent. Weekly data from oilfield service provider Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) showed the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil and natural gas dropped by 98 to 1,358 units as of February 13, and declined by 406 units from a year ago. This is more than a 5-year low. In Canada, the rig count as on February 13 was 382 units, up 1 from last week, but down 252 units from a year ago.
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