Crude Oil Ends Lower, But Gains 7.9% For Week

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil snapped a six-day gain to end lower on Friday, on concerns over a potential Greek debt repayment default and an equity market regulatory change in China, with global equity markets trending lower.

Nevertheless, crude oil futures gained about 7.9 percent for the week.

Investors also weighed the rising global inventories, with BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley warning that oil prices could stay low for several years.

Earlier today, Baker Hughes reported a decline in U.S. rigs actively drilling oil, with the count as of April 17 dropping by 26 units to 734 rigs, down 51 percent year-over-year.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Thursday said, demand for OPEC crude is expected to improve to about 29.3 million barrels a day in 2015. The group projected demand for non-OPEC supplies to drop by about 165,000 barrels a day, while anticipating an end to the U.S. supply boom end this year.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly oil report showed U.S. crude stockpiles to have risen 1.3 million barrels in the week ended April 10, while analysts anticipated an increase of 3.5 million barrels. Total U.S. crude oil inventories were at 483.7 million barrels end last week.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for May delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $0.97 or 1.7 percent, to settle at $55.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday.

Crude prices for May delivery scaled a high of $56.88 a barrel intraday and a low of $55.31.

On Thursday, crude oil gained $0.32 or 0.6 percent to settle at $56.71 a barrel, over the slowdown in U.S. production, amid rising tensions in the Middle East and the prospect of increased demand for crude.

On the economic front, a Labor Department report on Friday showed another modest increase in U.S. consumer prices in March, but were slightly less than economists' expectations. The consumer price index edged up 0.2 percent in March, matching the increase seen in February. Economists expected the index to rise by 0.3 percent.

Consumer sentiment in the U.S. improved more than expected in April, a report from the University of Michigan showed Friday. The preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for April came in at 95.9 compared to the final March reading of 93.0. Economists expected the index to edge up to 94.0.

The Conference Board's report on Friday showed continued increase at its index of leading U.S. economic indicators for March, but less than what economists expected. The leading economic index increased 0.2 percent in March following a downwardly revised 0.1 percent uptick in February. Economists expected the index to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.2 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Eurozone's consumer prices declined in March from a year ago, as estimated earlier, but prices rose from the previous month at the fastest rate in two years, latest figures from the statistical office Eurostat showed Friday.

The harmonized index of consumer prices dropped 0.1 percent annually after a 0.3 percent decline in February. That was in line with the flash estimate released by Eurostat on March 31. Prices decreased for the fourth consecutive month.

The euro area current account surplus declined in February largely due to a decrease in primary income, data published by the European Central Bank showed Friday. The current account surplus dropped to a seasonally adjusted EUR 26.4 billion from EUR 30.4 billion in January.

The U.K. unemployment rate fell to the lowest since 2008 and claimant count reached a 40-year low, labor market statistics released ahead of the General Elections showed Friday. The ILO jobless rate eased to 5.6 percent in three months to February from 5.8 percent in September to November, the Office for National Statistics said. The rate was the lowest since 2008 and matched economists' expectations.