Brent crude, the global benchmark, had risen $1.20 to $52.04 a barrel by 0847 GMT (4.47 a.m. ET) and traded intraday at $52.26, the highest since April 26. U.S. crude was up $1.18 at $49.02 a barrel.

The light, sweet contract for June crude oil delivery gained 50¢ to close at $47.83/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange May 11. The July contract also climbed 50¢ to settle at $48.20/bbl. The natural gas price for June was up 8¢ to a rounded $3.37/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price gained 9¢ to $3.20/MMbtu on May 11. The Brent crude contract for July on London’s ICE was up 55¢ to settle at $50.77/bbl. The August contract increased 51¢ to $51.05/bbl. The June gas oil contract was $449/tonne, up $5.

U.S. Rig Count is up 479 rigs from last year's count of 406, with oil rigs up 394, gas rigs up 85, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged. Canadian Rig Count is up 37 rigs from last year's count of 43, with oil rigs up 13, gas rigs up 25, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 0.

International Brent crude futures were at $50.96 per barrel at 0646 GMT on Friday, up 19 cents, or 0.37 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $48.01 per barrel, up 18 cents, or 0.38 percent.

OPEC will decide formally whether to extend the cuts when its ministers meet in Vienna on May 25. The producer group and other major suppliers including Russia agreed last year to cut their collective production by about 1.8 million barrels a day for the first half of 2017 in an effort to reduce bloated global stockpiles and re-balance the market.

Private investment in U.S. natural gas and oil infrastructure could create over 1 million U.S. jobs.

Iran said that it has plans to increase its crude oil production capacity by 3 million barrels per day.

Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Ali Kardor said Iran has so far recovered 1,060 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the supergiant South Pars Gas Field, adding the recovery has fetched Iran over 191 billion dollars in revenue.

Brent LCOc1 was 60 cents higher at $50.82 a barrel by 1255 GMT (8.55 a.m. ET) after hitting an early high of $51.09. U.S. light crude oil CLc1 was last up 60 cents at $47.93.

Global benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 was up 68 cents at $49.41 a barrel by 1327 GMT (9.27 a.m. ET). U.S. light crude CLc1 oil was 69 cents higher at $46.57 a barrel.