West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude oil prices for December delivery experienced some vitality in Friday trading on good U.S. economic data.
Early data on the employment climate in the United States pushed the Dow Industrial Average and S&P 500 to record closes Thursday. On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said total non-farm payroll employment grew by 214,000 last month, pushing the unemployment rate down to 5.8 percent.
While modest, data show average hourly earnings for all employees rose by 3 percent to $24.57 in October.
Overall commodities in early Friday trading were mixed following the report, though oil led the way.
WTI, the U.S. benchmark, gained 74 cents early Friday to trade at $78.43 per barrel for the December contract. Brent crude oil followed suit, trading up 41 cents to $83.27 per barrel for December delivery.
Friday's gains may be threatened, however, by an 87-page report from Citibank that finds the growth in U.S. oil production may have "severe" consequences for members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Brent and WTI both shed more than 20 percent of their value since June as more North American oil means less demand for OPEC crude.
"Most OPEC countries produce medium to heavy and sour crude oil streams and the refinery system in the US Gulf of Mexico has been the most attractive market in the world for them," the report said. "But now the loss of market share has become inevitable, increasing competition for access to China's more limited market and weighing on global oil prices."
Brent and WTI suffered heavy losses last week following a grim forecast about futures contracts from Goldman Sachs, which trumped some of the optimism that greeted a European Central Bank stress test concluding durability in the face of further financial strain.
