Baker Hughes Reports First Rise In Active U.S. Oil Rigs In Five Weeks

Oil prices moved lower after data from Baker Hughes showed that the number of active U.S. oil-drilling rigs climbed by 17 to 541 as of Friday. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes natural-gas rigs, was unchanged at 709. Compared with last year, the total rig count has fallen by 1,166, with the oil-rig count down 995. January crude was at $34.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 51 cents, or 1.5%, for the session, trading below the $34.76 it was at before the data.