The auction of the deepwater blocks, four in the Perdido Fold belt near the US side of the Gulf and six in the unexplored Salina basin further south, marked the culmination of the first round of auctions since Mexico enacted a sweeping reform to open a sector closed to private exploration and production for nearly 80 years.

Brent crude oil futures LCOc1, the global benchmark used to trade oil, soared to its highest since July 6, 2015 to $55.20 a barrel. It last traded at $55.08 a barrel, up 62 cents, or 1.1 percent, at 0946 GMT. WTI crude oil CLc1 traded up 54 cents, or 1 percent, at $52.22 a barrel.

U.S. Rig Count is down 140 rigs from last year's count of 737, with oil rigs down 68, gas rigs down 73, and miscellaneous rigs up 1. Canadian Rig Count is up 23 rigs from last year's count of 177, with oil rigs up 23, gas rigs down 2, and miscellaneous rigs up 2.

Front-month Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 45 cents, or 0.8 percent by 0951 GMT (4:51 a.m. ET) from their last settlement at $53.49 per barrel. The contract was up more than 13 percent this week, its biggest gain since March 2009. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 were at $50.68, down 38 cents.

For China’s beleaguered oil sector, a deal by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output could offer a lifeline to an industry that has been hammered by low prices—and may also hasten its shift away from a heavy reliance on Saudi crude.

Shares in US oil companies soared on Wednesday as Opec ministers meeting in Vienna agreed a plan to cut output by 1.2m barrels per day. “The biggest beneficiaries from this Opec move are the US shale players,” said Mike Kelly, head of exploration and production company research at Seaport Global Securities.

OPEC in its 171st ordinary meeting on Wednesday, November 30, agreed to Iran's share of 3.9 million barrels per day in its total output.

The government of Iraq is hoping that a new OPEC deal will help the war-weary country generate enough revenue to help pay for its costly, 2-year-old fight against the Islamic State group. Iraq, whose oil revenues make up nearly 95 percent of its budget, has been reeling under an economic crisis since late 2014, when oil prices began their descent from a high of above $100 a barrel.

Oil prices slipped on Friday as some investors opted to cash out after Brent touched 16-month a high on Thursday, with optimism over this week's OPEC-Russia accord on cutting output giving way to questions on the "sticking point" of implementing the deal.

Russia promised to support a push by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to reduce a global oil oversupply after the group agreed to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day on Wednesday. Energy Minister Alexander Novak pledged Russia would cut its own output by as much as 300,000 barrels a day, a stronger move than the previously preferred position of a freeze.