Oil Futures Extend Gains After Weekly Rig-count Data

Oil futures extended gains Friday after weekly data from oil-services firm Baker Hughes showed another decline in the number of U.S. oil rigs. The firm said the number of oil rigs fell by 42 in the latest week to 760, while the number of gas rigs rose by 3 to 225, and miscellaneous rigs were reduced by one to three. The total rig count fell by 40 to 988 rigs. Oil futures held on to gains after the latest data, with Nymex May crude up 99 cents, or 1.9%, at $51.78 a barrel.