* Drillers add 21 oil rigs in U.S. this week - Baker Hughes
* Brent, U.S. crude post fourth weekly loss
* Brent, U.S. crude prices at lowest since April
* Weak China factory data dents oil demand outlook
(Recasts; updates prices to settlement)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - Brent and U.S. crude futures
settled on Friday at their lowest since March and posted their
fourth straight weekly decline as weak economic data from China
and a rise in U.S. oil drilling rigs applied pressure.
U.S. energy firms added 21 oil rigs this week after pulling
seven rigs last week, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc
BHI.N said. RIG/U
The rig count data arrived a day after U.S. crude fell into
bear market territory, as a drop of 21 percent from its June 10
close at $61.43 a barrel indicated the market's prevailing
negative sentiment.
China's factory sector contracted in July by the most in 15
months, a preliminary private survey showed. The
weaker-than-expected result followed a stock market slide that
began in June. ID:nL3N1032YR MKTS/GLOB
Brent September crude LCOc1 fell 65 cents to settle at
$54.62 a barrel, the lowest close since March 19 and off 4.3
percent for the week. The $54.30 session low was the lowest
front-month price since April 2.
U.S. September crude CLc1 fell 31 cents to end at $48.14,
its lowest settlement since March 31 and down 5.5 percent for
the week. The session low of $47.72 was the lowest intraday
price since April 1.
"Crude was already lower on concerns about the global
economy and the rig count added to the negativity," said Phil
Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.
The world's top oil companies are set to report
second-quarter earnings showing another drop in profits that
could force more spending cuts, according to analysts.
ID:nL5N1023IJ
The dollar's .DXY strength also applied pressure, as a
stronger U.S. dollar makes greenback-denominated oil more
expensive for consumers using other currencies. USD/
Brent and U.S. crude have so far clocked double-digit losses
in July. With U.S. crude off 19 percent, it could challenge
December's 19.4 percent drop, which was the biggest monthly
slump since the financial crisis in 2008.
Money managers cut their net long futures and options
positions in the week to July 21, the U.S. Commodity Futures
Trading Commission said. ID:nEMN401XRN
Demand for gasoline has been strong, keeping refineries
churning at high utilization rates, but August U.S. RBOB
gasoline futures RBc1 settled below its 200-day moving average
of $1.8514 a gallon on Friday.
"This looks like profit-taking as the end of the U.S.
driving season gets closer," said Gene McGillian, analyst at
Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.
The 5 percent weekly drop was gasoline's biggest since
mid-March and the sixth consecutive weekly slide, most since the
seven weeks ending Jan. 9.
U.S. ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) futures HOc1 also fell
a sixth straight week.