Brent crude LCOc1 was up 28 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $52.79 at 0630 GMT. The contract earlier rose to the highest since April 21 and is on track for a nearly 4 percent climb this week, its second week of gains. U.S. crude oil CLc1 was up 29 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $49.64 a barrel, highest since April 26. The contract is also heading for a weekly increase of almost 4 percent.

Algerian energy minister Noureddine Boutarfa said Thursday he believes there is a consensus among countries participating in the OPEC/non-OPEC oil production cut deal regarding the necessity to extend the agreement by nine months through March 2018.

Total petroleum deliveries in April moved up by 1.7 percent from April 2016 to average 19.6 million barrels per day. These were the highest April deliveries in nine years, since 2008. Compared with March, total domestic petroleum deliveries, a measure of U.S. petroleum demand, decreased 0.3 percent. For year to date, total domestic petroleum deliveries moved up slightly by 0.1 percent compared to the same period last year to average 19.4 million barrels per day.

The recent steps to increase the transparency of fiscal policy through the publication of the Fiscal Balance Program and the First Quarter Budget Report are very welcome. This greater transparency will help private businesses and investors better plan their investment and employment decisions.

Preliminary production figures for April 2017 show an average daily production of 2 111 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate, which is an decrease of 38 000 barrels per day (approx. 2 percent) compared to March.

Brent crude was up 50 cents at $52.15 per barrel by 1330 GMT. U.S. light crude rose 39 cents to $49.05.

India is a major contributor to the growth in global liquid fuels consumption. Total liquid fuels consumption in India grew 8% in 2016, the largest increase since 2009, to an estimated 4.35 million barrels per day (b/d).

Brent crude was down 20 cents, or 0.4 percent, from the last close at $51.45 per barrel at 0647 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $48.39, down 27 cents, or 0.6 percent.

Brent crude oil was up 30 cents at $52.12 a barrel by 0750 GMT. U.S. light crude was 25 cents higher at $49.10 a barrel. Both benchmarks have risen more than $5 a barrel since hitting five-month lows 10 days ago.

Crude oil production from the seven major US onshore producing regions is forecast to rise 122,000 b/d month-over-month in June to average 5.401 million b/d. Gas production from the seven regions is forecast to gain 557 MMcfd month-over-month in June to 51.316 bcfd.