Baker Hughes data show a fourth straight weekly fall in active U.S. oil-drilling rigs

Baker Hughes
BKR,
+0.68%
on Friday reported that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil fell by 5 to 570 this week. That marked a fourth straight week of declines in the number of oil rigs. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes those drilling for natural gas, declined by 9 to stand at 711, according to Baker Hughes. The number of active natural-gas drilling rigs stood at 137, down by 4 rigs. Oil prices traded higher in Friday dealings, with July West Texas Intermediate crude contract
CLN23,
+1.17%
up 70 cents, or 1%, at $72.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.