Rising again: Oil prices settle up as US begins holiday weekend

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Oil prices settled higher on Friday evening as some investors covered short positions ahead of the three-day Martin Luther King holiday weekend in the US and lingering worries about a possible military strike against Iran. Brent crude settled at $64.13 a barrel up 37 cents or 0.58%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate finished at $59.44 a barrel up 25 cents, or 0.42%. Most of Friday’s gains seemed to be due to buying supply ahead of the long weekend, said John Kilduff, partner with Again Capital LLC. “With that carrier strike group making the move to the (Persian) Gulf, it…