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Brent's new front-month December contract <LCOc1> was up 25
cents at $49.98 a barrel at 1125 GMT. November Brent expired at
$48.71 a barrel on Thursday, down 44 cents day on day.
U.S. crude's front-month November contract <CLc1> traded 38
cents higher at $46.76 a barrel.
"Investors holding short positions have already started to take
profit ahead of the weekend after four days of decline," said
Tamas Varga, oil analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates.
Strong equities markets also supported gains as European shares
extended a rally on Friday, buoyed by bullish Asian and U.S.
trading on positive U.S. economic data.
Despite Friday's gains, WTI was set to make its steepest weekly
loss in 10 weeks and Brent in eight weeks, after the
International Energy Agency predicted the market to remain
oversupplied through 2016.
"Even if crude prices go up now, we could be seeing Iranian
crude coming back to the market, pushing it down again. I think
downward movement is more likely for the rest of this year,"
said Daniel Ang, an investment analyst at Singapore-based
Phillip Futures Pte Ltd.
Some investors pinned hopes for a price revival on forecasts of
falling U.S. shale oil production, with output expected to drop
the most on record in November, according to the U.S. Energy
Information Administration.
Data from the EIA also showed gasoline stocks fell by 2.6
million barrels last week, above analysts' expectations for a
1.7-million barrel drop. Distillate stockpiles, which include
diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.5 million barrels versus
expectations for a 60,000-barrel drop.
Societe Generale analyst Jesper Dannesboe said crude oil was
likely to continue range-trading over the coming months.
"We see limited further downside for risk-reversals unless a
major geopolitical event takes place," he said.
A meeting of OPEC technical experts in Vienna on Oct. 21 may
give indications whether sentiment is shifting within the
organization about maintaining production levels as prices
remain muted.
Non-OPEC oil producer Azerbaijan confirmed on Friday it had been
invited to the meeting but its energy minister would not attend.
(Additional reporting by Meeyoung Cho in Seoul, editing by David
Evans and William Hardy)
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