Oil prices continued to trade higher after data from Baker Hughes showed that the number of active U.S. oil-drilling rigs edged down for a sixth week in a row. They fell by 12 to 498 as of Friday. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes natural-gas rigs, was down 18 at 619. Compared with last year, the total U.S. rig count has fallen by 924, with oil rigs down by 725. March crude was at $33.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 13 cents, or 0.3%. It was at $33.57 before the data.
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