West Texas Intermediate saw the........>

US OIL CLOSE: West Texas Intermediate saw the first closing settlement above the

psychological $50 mark since May 24.

- NYMEX September light sweet crude oil futures settled up $0.46 at $50.17 per

barrel, after trading in a range of $49.18 to $50.41 (after hours).

- Most recently WTI topped out at $52.00 May 25, before the announcement of a

nine-month extension of OPEC/non-OPEC production cuts. The extension was largely

priced in and oil fell to $42.05 on June 21.

- A sustained close above $50 will target the May 25 high.

- Baker Hughes rig count data, released Friday, showing a two rig increase to

766 rigs for U.S. "oil-only" rigs in the week ending July 28. This is still more

than double the 374 rigs seen a year ago. However, rigs were still down 52.4%

from the peak rig count of 1,609 rigs seen Oct. 10, 2014.