Oil settles higher, logs weekly gain

Oil settled higher Friday and posted a weekly gain, underpinned by better-than-expected economic data from China and the US.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil for August gained or 0.61%, to settle at $45.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. WTI posted a 1.2% weekly gain amid choppy trade, having recovered most of Wednesday’s 4% plunge on the back of US inventories data.

On Friday, Baker Hughes reported that US oil rigs rose by six to 357 for the week ending on July 8, increasing for the sixth time over the last seven weeks.