UPDATE 7-Oil pulls back amid New York coronavirus curbs, gains for a 6th week

(Updates with settlement prices, U.S. rig data)
By Jessica Resnick-Ault
NEW YORK, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices settled lower on
Friday, as demand worries due to new coronavirus-related
restrictions on business in New York overshadowed progress
toward vaccination programs.
Brent LCOc1 futures settled down 28 cents, or 0.6% at
$49.97 a barrel. The contract rose above $51 a barrel on
Thursday to an early-March high.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 fell 21
cents, or 0.5%, to $46.57, having risen almost 3% in the
previous session.
"Restrictions in New York are weighing on prices," said Bob
Yawger, director of energy futures for Mizuho in New York. On
Thursday, funds had placed net long bets as Brent topped $50 a
barrel. "As we approach the close, the speculator community is
reluctant to go home with a net long position," he said.
Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered New York City restaurants to
suspend indoor dining effective Monday, amid an uptick in cases.
L1N2IR1QA
For the week, Brent was up 1.5% and WTI was up less than 1%.
That was the sixth consecutive week of gains for the first time
since June.
Promising vaccine trials have helped lift some gloom over
record increases in the number of coronavirus infections and
deaths around the world, and Cuomo sounded a note of optimism,
saying he expected 170,000 doses of Pfizer's PFE.N vaccine to
be in New York by Sunday or Monday.
Britain began inoculations this week and the United States
could start vaccinations as early as the coming weekend, while
Canada on Wednesday approved its first vaccine with initial
shots due from next week. Outside advisers for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
have voted to endorse emergency use of Pfizer's vaccine, paving
the way for the agency to authorise its use in a nation where
COVID-19 has killed more than 285,000.
"The vaccine optimism ... seems to continue unscathed due to
the back-to-back approvals vaccines are getting and the
quicker-than-previously-thought rollout of the first campaigns
in key markets," Rystad Energy analyst Paola Rodriguez-Masiu
said.
A big jump in U.S. crude stockpiles last week served as a
reminder that there is still plenty of supply available, but it
was all but ignored as bulls ran through the market this week.
EIA/S
Another signal of abundant supplies came on Friday as U.S.
energy firms this week added the most oil and natural gas rigs
in a week since January as producers keep returning to the
wellpad. RIG/U
"The long-awaited rollout of vaccination programmes provided
ample bullish fodder in the face of rising U.S. oil
inventories," brokerage PVM's Stephen Brennock said.
A fall in world shares as markets confronted the risk of
Britain leaving the European Union without a trade deal weighed
on sentiment. On Friday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European
Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said a deal was unlikely.
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CHART: U.S. oil may retest resistance at $47.71 Brent oil may retest resistance at $51.12
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