NEW YORK, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Crude oil futures prices posted solid growth on Friday as fears of further monetary tightening receded on weaker U.S. non-farm payroll growth in June.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August delivery picked up 2.06 U.S. dollars, or 2.87 percent, to settle at 73.86 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for September delivery gained 1.95 dollars, or 2.55 percent, to settle at 78.47 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Traders' fears on further monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve eased as data issued on Friday showed that U.S. non-farm payrolls increased by 209,000 in June, less than forecast consensus of 213,000 and 306,000 in the previous month.
The U.S. dollar index dropped around 0.85 percent on Friday, offering additional support to U.S. dollar-denominated oil prices.
"WTI oil gains ground as traders stay focused on production cuts from Russia and Saudi Arabia. The strong pullback of the U.S. dollar serves as an additional positive catalyst for oil markets," said Vladimir Zernov, analyst with market information supplier FX Empire.
Saudi Arabia implemented a voluntary production cut of 1 million barrels per day starting July 1, and decided to extend the cut into August together with Russia's voluntary production cut of 500,000 barrels per day in August.
The number of active oil drilling rigs in the United States decreased by five week on week to 540, while active oil drilling rigs in Canada showed a week-on-week increase by two to 111, according to data issued by oil services company Baker Hughes on Friday.
