WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures closed higher on Friday, rebounding after five successive days of losses, but still ended with a sharp weekly loss.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended up $1.42 or about 2.4% at $61.42 a barrel.
On Thursday, WTI crude futures shed more than 7%. The contract lost more than 6% in the week.
Brent crude futures settled nearly 2% up at $64.53 a barrel. The contract lost about 7% on Thursday.
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 U.S. and Russia, which could result in the latter increasing its oil output, also weighed on crude prices.
According to Baker Hughes, U.S. 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.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX