Oil ended Friday only cents away from $20 a barrel

After seeing jumps of more than 20 percent in successive days this week, U.S. oil prices settled up 5 percent on Friday.

West Texas Intermediate ended the day at $19.78 a barrel, an increase of 94 cents since Thursday’s close on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

International benchmark Brent crude rose only 12 cents and finished trading at $26.60 on Friday. Natural gas prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 6 cents and finished the day at $1.89 per MMbtu.

Amidst those growing reports of how close the company is to perhaps filing bankruptcy, Chesapeake Energy ended the day down more than $2.50 settling at $14.98 per share, a 14 percent drop.

SandRidge Energy was down a penny at $1.98 while ConocoPhillips fell nearly $3 a share, finishing Friday at $39.14.

Devon Energy was down $1.32 to $11.15 a share while Marathon Oil fell 62 cents to $5.50. ONEOK dropped $2 and landed at $27.94, a 7 percent decline.

Phillips 66 rose $6.81 or 9 percent to end the day at $66.36 while American Electric Power slid $1.72 to finish at $81.39 a share.