Baker Hughes reports another weekly drop in U.S. rig count U.S. crude-oil futures on Friday scored a third straight weekly gain, with prices for the Brent contract marking their highest settlement of the year on the back of spending cuts by oil companies and further declines in the number of active U.S. oil rigs. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for delivery in March CLH5, -0.78% rose $1.57, or 3.1%, to settle at $52.78 a barrel—up about 2.1% for the week. Prices briefly traded as high as $53.10 immediately after weekly data from Baker Hughes Inc. BHI, +3.09% showed that the U.S. number of rigs actively drilling for oil and natural gas fell 98 to 1,358 as of Feb. 13. That’s down 406 from the same time last year and they were already at about a 5-year low as of the week ended Feb. 6.