UPDATE 9-Oil ends down for 3rd week as U.S. rig count rises

* U.S drillers add 17 oil rigs this week, 1st uptick in 5
weeks
* Brent hits low just 21 cents above 2008 bottom
* Both Brent and WTI head for loss of about 35 pct for 2015

(Recasts; updates throughout with settlement prices; adds
milestones and comments)
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell about half a
percent on Friday after the U.S. oil rig count unexpectedly rose
for the first time in five weeks, pressuring a market already at
seven-year lows.
Global oil benchmark Brent and U.S. crude's West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) futures settled down for a third straight
week. With two weeks to the year-end, both were slated to finish
2015 down about 35 percent on a rout driven by oil oversupplies.
Despite the severity of the decline, data from oil services
company Baker Hughes (N:BHI) Inc showed U.S. energy firms added to the
number of oil rigs in operation this week, indicating more
supply to come. The closely watched report showed 17 new rigs
that brought the total to 541. RIG/U
"The rig count increase was a bit of a surprise," said Peter
Donovan, broker at Liquidity Energy in New York. "I don't think
it was a coincidence that the market fell after the report."
WTI hit $34.29 a barrel, the lowest since February 2009,
after the release of the Baker Hughes' report. It settled the
day down 22 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $34.73. For the week, WTI
lost 2.5 percent.
Brent LCOc1 finished the session down 18 cents, or 0.5
percent, at $36.88. Its session low was $36.41, just 21 cents
above a 2004 bottom. Brent lost 3 percent on the week.
Some oil bears said they were actually counting on a price
rebound that would let them make a bigger profit selling the
market down.
"I'm quietly waiting for a bigger covering bounce that will
presage the next leg lower in WTI," said Tariq Zahir, a trader
in crude oil spreads at New York's Tyche Capital Advisors who
was betting on a price of $30 or lower.
Hedge fund manager Pierre Andurand estimated $25 or less by
first quarter.
Some did not think the higher rig count would have much
impact on prices.
"Rig activity still remains at very depressed levels and a
slight uptick in the data point isn't going to change that,"
said Chris Jarvis of oil consultancy Caprock Risk Management in
Frederick, Maryland. "This just shows there are a few oil
companies in a position to capitalize on low drilling costs."
Trading volumes were thin, in line with reduced activity
ahead of Christmas and the New Year. Just around 80 million
barrels of WTI were traded, versus nearly 200 million on Friday,
Reuters data showed.

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Graphic: Crude oil price and the dollar http://reut.rs/1NV2uJQ
Graphic: Traders bet on lower U.S. crude prices: http://tmsnrt.rs/1QwyGWl
Graphic: Crude oil price and Chinese consumption http://reut.rs/1NV2Ksu
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(Addtional reporting by Karolin Schaps in London; Editing by
Chris Reese and Richard Chang)