03:40 PM EDT, 10/11/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The number of oil rigs in the US increased by two for the week ended Friday, according to data compiled by energy services company Baker Hughes ( BKR ) .

The tally for oil rose to 481 from 479 on a weekly basis, while gas lost one rig to 101. Miscellaneous rigs were unchanged at four. A year earlier, the US had 501 oil, 117 gas and four miscellaneous rigs in operation, company data showed.

Overall, 586 rigs were operating in the US this week, down from 622 a year earlier. Among US states, top producer Texas added six rigs to 285, while Louisiana, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania lost two each.

Across North America, oil-and-gas rigs decreased by three on a weekly basis to 805, compared with 815 at the same point last year. The count in Canada dropped by four to 219 rigs, largely due declines in oil and miscellaneous.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 0.5% at $75.47 a barrel in Friday late-afternoon trade, while Brent fell 0.6% to $78.96 a barrel. Both were on track for back-to-back weekly gains.

Iran recently carried out a missile attack on Israel in retaliation for the latter's killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and an Iranian commander in Lebanon.

The market is awaiting any potential retaliation by Israel, ING said in a report published Friday. "While the US and other Gulf nations have been pushing for Israel not to target (Iran's) oil infrastructure, this can't be ruled out completely," the firm wrote.

On Wednesday, data from the Energy Information Administration showed commercial crude stockpiles in the US rose more than expected last week.

Price: 37.62, Change: +0.01, Percent Change: +0.01