Oil down, but ends year with biggest gain since 2009

London

OIL prices settled slightly lower on Friday, the year's last trading day, but attained their biggest annual gain since 2009, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and partners agreed to cut output to reduce a supply overhang that has depressed prices for two years.

A two-rig rise in the oil rig count in the United States, the ninth weekly increase in a row, as reported by oilfield services provider Baker Hughes Inc, added to bearish sentiments.…