Oil Futures Settle With a 9% Weekly Gain

Oil futures settled Friday at their highest level since late July, up 9% for the week. A weaker U.S. dollar, worries about tension in the Middle East and declines in the number of active U.S. oil rigs were among the reasons oil prices climbed. Expectations that falling U.S. refinery activity will contribute to the glut of crude supplies, however, kept a cap on any price gains. November crude settled at $49.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 20 cents, or 0.4%, for the session after touching highs above $50.