Rebounding after five successive days of losses, crude oil futures ended higher on Friday amid concerns about outlook for energy demand following a surge in coronavirus cases in several parts across the world, reports of fresh lockdown measures in some countries and slowdown in vaccine rollout hurt oil prices this week. Rising tensions between the US and Russia, which could result in the latter increasing its oil output, also weighed on crude prices. According to Baker Hughes, US drillers added nine oil rigs in this week, the biggest weekly increase since January. With the addition, the rig count rose to 318, the highest since May 2020.
Crude oil futures for April rose $1.42 or 2.4 percent to settle at $61.42 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. May Brent crude added $1.85 or nearly 3 percent to settle at $64.53 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.