HOUSTON, April 6 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. rig count increased by 10 this week, following last week's decline of two, according to weekly data collected by Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes released on Friday.
Baker Hughes reported that the overall rig count for the United States increased to 1,003 in total.
The number of U.S. active oil rigs increased by 11 to 808 for its ninth gain in the past 11 weeks, while gas rigs remained unchanged at 194, with the number of miscellaneous rigs reducing one.
In the meantime, oil prices tumbled on Friday as trade tensions between China and the United States dented investor sentiment.
Several major international oil price benchmarks witnessed a decline: The West Texas Intermediate for May delivery dropped 1.48 U.S. dollars to settle at 62.06 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent Crude for June delivery lost 1.22 dollars to close at 67.11 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
