U.S. Oil-Rig Count Down by 6 in Latest Week

   By Aisha Al-Muslim

The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. were down by 6 this week to 770, 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 had generally been rising since June 2016, but has started to fall slightly again since recently reaching 885 at the end of December 2018.

The nation's gas rig count was up 2 at 171 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 at 24, which is 7 more than a year ago.

Oil prices were are up 3.3% at $55.71 a barrel in afternoon trading Friday.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 02, 2019 13:32 ET (17:32 GMT)

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