Oil drilling rigs increase unexpectedly

The number of oil rigs operating in the United States rose this week by the highest amount since April, a major oilfield services company said.

There were 659 rigs drilling for crude oil this week, 21 more than last week, Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday, based on its weekly data from across the industry.

{mosads}Natural gas rigs fell by two to 216 and the count for rigs drilling for miscellaneous hydrocarbons was unchanged at one.

The total rig count has now increased three out of the past four weeks, signalling a return to drilling and a slight change from the past year of massive decreases in drilling.

Oil and gas companies have cut back significantly amid a worldwide glut in supply and anemic demand, leading to historically low prices.

But the total count is still down by more than 1,000 from a year ago and down precipitously from October’s high of 1,609, according to Baker Hughes data.

Crude oil on the domestic West Texas Intermediate benchmark was down by about 1 percent to around $48 in early Friday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.