Driller Baker Hughes will release its weekly latest count of oil and gas rigs at the top of the hour.
To recap, last week, the oil rig count fell for a third straight period, by 8 to 354.
The gas rig count rose by 1 to 89, and so the total count fell 7 to 443. There were 545 fewer rigs in service compared to roughly the same period a year ago.
Ahead of Friday's release, West Texas Intermediate crude futures in New York were down about 2.7% and near $40.36 per barrel.
Headlines earlier this week indicating that there could be a production-freeze agreement at Sunday's meeting of producers pushed WTI to a year-to-date high of $42.42 per barrel.
OPEC and non-OPEC members will meet in Doha this weekend and could reach an agreement on holding production levels. Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh has said he would skip the meeting.
We'll have the latest rig count data at the top of the hour, so refresh this page for updates. Meanwhile, here's the most recent oil rig count chart:
Andy Kiersz/Business Insider