Oil Futures Stage Last-minute Rally

Oil futures settled higher Friday, with gains for the U.S. benchmark intensifying in the last few minutes of trading. Prices found support from a 26th straight weekly decline in the number of U.S. rigs actively drilling for oil, offsetting earlier pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries's decision to leave its production ceiling unchanged. July crude added $1.13, or 2%, to settle at $59.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Based on the most-active contracts, prices suffered a loss of 1.9% for the week -- their first weekly decline in 12 weeks.