By Aisha Al-Muslim 
 

The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. were up by one this week to 799, Baker Hughes, a GE company, reported.

The U.S. oil rig count is typically viewed as a proxy for activity in the sector. After peaking at 1,609 in October 2014, low oil prices put downward pressure on production and the rig count fell sharply. The oil-rig count has generally been rising since June 2016.

The nation's gas rig count was up by 2 to 179 in the past week, according to oil-field services company Baker Hughes.

The U.S. offshore-rig count was down by 1 from last week to 17, which is unchanged from a year ago.

Oil prices were up 1% at $63.63 a barrel in afternoon trading Friday.

 

Write to Aisha Al-Muslim at aisha.al-muslim@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 23, 2018 13:29 ET (18:29 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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