Oil Drops Under $40 As Baker Hughes Reports Rise In Weekly Oil-rig Count

Oil futures dropped under $40 a barrel after data from Baker Hughes released Friday showed that the number of active oil drilling rigs rose 2 to 674 as of Aug. 21. The total active rig count, which includes natural-gas rigs, was at 885, up 1 rig. Compared to last year, the total rig count has fallen by 1,011, with the oil rig count down 890. Oct. crude was down $1.40, or 3.4%, at $39.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was trading at $40.08 just before the data.