WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil futures settled higher on Friday, extending recent gains, on supply worries due to geopolitical tensions, and hopes about the outlook for energy demand thanks to upbeat economic data.
The decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies to keep the group's production cuts in place continued to support oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.32 or about 0.37% at $86.91 a barrel, settling at a fresh 5-month high. WTI crude futures gained about 4% in the week.
Brent crude futures gained 0.6% to $86.91 a barrel.
On the geopolitical front, Iran vowed to retaliate against Israel's strike on the Iran embassy in Damascus, Syria earlier in the week. Ongoing Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries also continued to raise concerns about supplies.
Israel has reportedly closed 28 embassies around the world amid fears of retaliatory strikes from Iran.
Data from the Labor Department showing a much bigger than expected increase in addition of non-farm payroll employment in the month of March points to a significant rise in near-term oil demand in the U.S.
The U.S. Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment spiked by 303,000 jobs in March after surging by a downwardly revised 270,000 jobs in February. Economists had expected employment to jump by 200,000 jobs compared to the addition of 275,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said the unemployment rate edged down to 3.8% in March from 3.9% in February, while economists had expected the unemployment rate to come in unchanged.
A report from Baker Hughes said the oil rig count in the U.S. rose by two to 508 this week.
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