Oil retreats on as Baker Hughes data triggers profit taking

An overblown oil rally witnessed correction in Asia as investors took note of rising oil rigs in the US.

At the time of writing, Brent prices were down 1.34% or 68 cents at $50.20/barrel. WTI futures were down 1.06% or 52 cents at $48.59/barrel.

Baker Hughes data released on Friday showed number of oil rigs in the US rose by 10 to 406. That was the eighth consecutive weekly rise and the 11^th increase in 12 weeks.

Prices have been rallying sharply on hopes the OPEC cartel would announce a production freeze on September. Oil benchmarks were overbought and thus Baker Hughes report provided reason for profit taking on oil longs.