2017.02.1708:19:00UTC+00Crude Oil Remains Eerily Flat Near $53

Crude oil futures remained range-bound Friday morning ahead of closely watched U.S. rig count figures.

WTI light sweet crude was down 28 cents at $53.08 a barrel, having bounced around this level for the past few months.

The Baker Hughes North American rig count that tracks weekly changes in the number of active operating oil & gas rigs will be revealed at 1.00 pm ET.

Domestic rig counts have been soaring this winter, as U.S. firms look to lock in market share as OPEC complies with its own supply quotas. Rig counts have been up 14 of 15 weeks.

In the previous week, the North American Rig Count were 1093, while U.S. rig counts were 741.

The Conference Board's Leading Indicators for January will be published at 10.00 am ET. The economists are looking for growth of 0.4 percent, slightly down from 0.5 percent a year ago.