Oil Drilling Rig Count Falls a Fourth Straight Week

Oil futures held their gains after data from Baker Hughes released Friday showed that the number of active U.S. oil-drilling rigs fell 4 to 640 as of Sept. 25. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes natural-gas rigs, was at 838, also down 4 rigs. Compared to last year, the total rig count has fallen by 1,093, with the oil rig count down 952. Nov. crude was up 44 cents, or 1%, to $45.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was trading at $45.37 just before the data.