Oil edges higher, ends September with gains

Oil prices edged higher on Friday and held near session highs after data showed US oil rigs count climbed last week.

Baker Hughes reported US rigs climbed by 7 to 425 last week, posting the 13th increase out of the last 14 weeks. 

Oil reached a daily high of $48.54 a barrel during the New York session, matching Thursday’s 1-month high. 

Prices rallied earlier this week after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to reduce output to between 32.5 million and 33 million barrels per day from around 33.5 million barrels per day estimated in August. It was the first time that OPEC has agreed to cut production since during the global financial crisis in 2008. OPEC said other details of the plan - timing, member’s quotas, etc - will be revealed at its policy meeting in November.

Oil was last trading at $48.32 a barrel, recording a 0.83% daily gain. Prices recorded its second weekly advance and is poised to close September with a 7% gain.