Oil Continues Decline After Data Show Weekly U.S. Oil-rig Count Up By 2

Oil futures continued to decline Friday after data from Baker Hughes revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil climbed by 2 to 418 rigs this week. They have now posted increases in 12 out of the last 13 weeks. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, climbed by 5 to 511, Baker Hughes said. Nov. crude was at $44.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $1.79, or 3.9%, from Thursday's settlement. It traded around $44.56 before the rig data.