Here comes the Baker Hughes rig count...
The oil rig count is about 26 rigs away from recovering all the losses recorded this year. This rebound may not happen in the next two weeks. But the addition of rigs in recent weeks, in response to more stable oil prices, has already proven to be a streak not seen since prices crashed two years ago.
Last week, the tally jumped for a 7th straight week, by 12 to 510. One gas rig was brought online this week, taking the total to 126. One miscellaneous rig remained, and so the combined tally across America increased by 13 to 637.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures traded lower but little changed on Friday, down 0.3% to $52.81 per barrel ahead of the rig count data.