U.S. oil prices rose to the highest...

U.S. oil prices rose to the highest level in nearly a month on anticipation that OPEC will announce some hoped-for measure to raise sagging oil prices at a news conference next week by the cartel’s president. April futures contracts for the U.S. benchmark grade of oil, West Texas Intermediate, rose 30 cents to $16.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Traders said, however, that the direction of prices next week is unclear and will largely depend on signals from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.