Here comes the Baker Hughes rig count ...

At the top of the hour, oil driller Baker Hughes will release its latest weekly tally of oil and gas rigs.

The oil rig count fell for a third straight period last week. It dropped by 8 to 644, and was the slowest pace in the three weeks of declines.

The count has been quite volatile of late, but the big picture is that the rig count is down 1,089 from last year at 1,931. Oil rigs are down 957, and gas rigs are down 131.

Ahead of the data, crude oil was slightly higher, with West Texas Intermediate crude up 1% at around $45.41 per barrel in New York.

We'll be back with the latest once the data cross. Meanwhile, here's the most recent chart of the rig count:

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