Oil prices retreat on rising U.S. rig count

NEW YORK, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices settled lower on Friday amid the rising of active number of drilling rigs in the United States.

The U.S. drillers added five oil rigs in the week, bringing the total count to 825, according to the weekly report released Friday by Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes.

U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 2.2 million barrels to 429.7 million last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report on Wednesday. Analysts had expected a 1.1-million-barrel gain.

Analysts also pointed out possible rebounding of oil prices since the market concerns over the restoring of U.S. sanctions against Iran, the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The United States has until May 12 to decide whether to quit a nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions against it.

The West Texas Intermediate for June delivery decreased 0.09 U.S. dollar to settle at 68.10 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for June delivery fell 0.1 dollar to close at 74.64 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem