Baker Hughes BKR, +3.26% on Friday reported that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil declined by 16 to 206 this week. The number of oil rigs has fallen on a weekly basis since mid-March, implying further declines in domestic crude output. The total active U.S. rig count, meanwhile, also fell by 17 to 284, according to Baker Hughes. July West Texas Intermediate crude CLN20, +5.23% held onto earlier gains, trading up $1.89, or nearly 5.1%, at $39.30 a barrel.

Gold futures were sharply lower Friday, settling at their lowest in two months and losing nearly 4% for the week. A surprise monthly climb in U.S. jobs and a drop in the nation's unemployment rate led to a rally in the stock market, dulling demand for haven gold. "Given how this surprisingly strong jobs report may lower the chances of the Federal Reserve taking action, this does not bode too well for zero-yielding gold," said Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM. "If the dollar...

Oil futures rallied Friday, buoyed by better-than-expected data on U.S. employment and expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will agree to extend current production cuts at a meeting Saturday. U.S. prices were up by more than 11% for the week. July West Texas Intermediate oil CLN20, +4.17% rose $2.14, or 5.7%, to settle at $39.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday. That was the highest front-month contract settlement since...

OPEC and allied nations agreed Saturday to extend a production cut of nearly 10 million barrels of oil a day through the end of July, hoping to encourage stability in energy markets hard hit by the global economic crisis resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Ministers of the cartel and outside nations led by Russia met via video conference to adopt the measure, aimed at cutting the excess production depressing prices as global aviation remains largely grounded due to the pandemic. The...

Oil futures settled lower on Monday, with U.S. prices down more than 3%. Analysts said traders were concerned about the potential for higher production from the U.S., Mexico and Libya. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that while the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies agreed to extend current production cuts through July, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have no plans to extend voluntary cuts of 1.18 million barrels per day beyond this month. July West...