The energy services firm "Baker Hughes" announced today that the US crude oil drilling rigs count declined 1 rig to 179 during this week.

While the natural gas rigs rose 2 to 73 rigs, with the total of oil and gas rigs rising by 1 to 252 rigs.

Oil prices saw mixed performance on Friday, as traders parse the damage caused by Hurricane Sally and the level of demand improvement or the lack thereof.

The Saudi energy minister warned what he descried as "market gamblers" that they would "be ouching like hell."

OPEC-Plus' joint ministerial monitoring committee confirmed that there is pressure on demand due to the rising coronavirus cases and speculation of a second wave of infections.

The dollar index fell against a basket of currencies by 0.1% to 92.8 points as of 18:13 GMT, after hitting a high of 93.01 and a low of 92.7.

As of 18:10 GMT, WTI October futures at Nymex rose 0.1% to $41.01 a barrel, after hitting a high of $41.4 and a low of $40.3.

 Brent November futures fell 0.5% to $43.06 a barrel, with a high of $43.8 and a low of $42.5.    

A survey by the University of Michigan to measure the US consumer confidence, showed a jump during September to the highest level since March.

The survey showed the US consumer confidence index rose to 74.1 points in September vs. 74.1 in August, also higher than analysts forecasts of 75.9 points.

Gold prices rose on Friday, rebounding from the 1-week low that was hit yesterday, to head for the second straight weekly gain, as the US dollar fell against a basket of major currencies.

Gold prices rose 0.6% to $1,955.63 an ounce, after opening at $1,944.67, with a session-low of $1,943.98.

The yellow metal closed lower by 0.7% yesterday, posting the second daily loss in 3 days, and hit a 1-week low of $1,932.79.

Gold prices gained about 0.9% so far this week, to head for the second straight weekly gain.

The dollar index fell 0.1% today, to deepen its losses for the second day, which comes in favor of prices of gold and other dollar-denominated metals.

The greenback's drop came due to disappointing economic US data on the weekly jobless claims and on the housing sector during August, which offset the impact of the positive economic forecasts by the Federal Reserve.

The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday held the interest rate between zero and 0.25%, and signaled that it plans to keep it near zero at least until the end of 2023 to help that the labor market to reach full employment, while putting up with the pressure resulting from the new inflation targeting strategy that will tolerate it above 2%.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell also stressed that the bank  expected the US economy to grow after projecting recession last June.

Gold stocks at the SPDR ETF fell 0.58 metric tonnes yesterday, with the total at the lowest level since July 29 of 1,246.99 metric tonnes.