HOUSTON, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The number of active drilling rigs in the United States decreased by 13 to 1044 this week, showed weekly data released by Baker Hughes on Friday.
The Houston-based oilfield services company reported that the U.S. state of Louisiana led the drop with reducing by seven rigs, while Texas gained three rigs and increased its overall rig count to 528.
The number of rigs operating in U.S. oil fields fell by nine to a total of 860 rigs this week, which is the biggest reduction since May 2016. More than half of the U.S. oil rigs were located in the Permian Basin region of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for October delivery rose 0.89 U.S. dollar to settle at 68.72 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for October delivery added 1.09 dollars to 75.82 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
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