03:47 PM EST, 03/07/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The number of oil rigs in the US held steady in the week ended Friday, according to data compiled by energy services company Baker Hughes ( BKR ) .

The count for oil was unchanged at 486, while gas lost one rig to 101. Miscellaneous rigs were unchanged at five. The US had 504 oil, 115 gas and three miscellaneous rigs in operation a year earlier, the data showed.

As of Friday, 592 rigs were operating in the US overall, down from 622 a year earlier.

Among US states, top producer Texas lost one rig sequentially to 281, while Colorado also lost one. The count in Wyoming increased by one.

Across North America, oil and gas rigs fell by 15 to 826 from a week earlier. The count in Canada decreased by 14 to 234 rigs, with oil and gas losing seven each.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 1.2% at $67.16 a barrel in late afternoon trading Friday, while Brent climbed 1.5% to $70.49. WTI is down 3.9% this week, while Brent is 3.3% lower.

US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Friday that he was "strongly considering" imposing sanctions on Russian banks and announcing tariffs on Russian products until a peace agreement is reached with Ukraine.

Trump's "about-turn" on tariffs triggered short covering in the oil market, Saxo Head of Commodity Strategy Ole Hansen said in a Friday note.

On Thursday, the White House issued temporary tariff exemptions for Canadian and Mexican goods that comply with a North American trade pact. The Trump administration recently doubled its levy on Chinese imports. Canada and China have announced retaliatory measures.

The US could impose tariffs on Canadian lumber and dairy products as early as Friday to match Canada's current tariffs on US goods, Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing Trump.

Meanwhile, Hansen pointed out that talks on resuming Iraqi oil flows to Turkey from Iraqi Kurdistan failed.

Price: 43.18, Change: +1.28, Percent Change: +3.05