Crude oil futures settled higher on Friday as optimism about outlook for energy demand outweighed concerns about possible excess supply in the market in the event of OPEC+ deciding to increase crude production. The momentum in vaccine rollouts and the reopening of the economies in the US and several counties across Europe, traders are betting on hopes energy demand will see a significant rise. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies are scheduled to meet on July 1 to discuss further easing of their output cuts from August. Meanwhile, a report released by Baker Hughes showed the number of oil and gas rigs in the US stayed the same this week, at 470. The total number of active oil and gas drilling rigs in the US is now up by 205 than around the same time last year. The oil rig count fell by 1 this week to 372, while the number of gas rigs increased by 1 to 98.
Crude oil futures for August rose $0.75 or about 1 percent to settle at $74.05 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. August Brent crude gained $0.46 or 0.61 percent to settle at $76.02 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.