The number of oil rigs in the U.S. decreased by one this week, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes data on Friday, marking the first weekly decline in the past three months.
The oil rig count in the country fell to 862 for the week ending June 22, from 863 in the previous week, the data showed.
This marked the first weekly decline in the number of oil rigs since the week of March 29, according to the data.
The decline in oil rig count suggests that crude oil production in the country could have fallen this week. The data about the crude output about this week will be released by the U.S.' Energy Information Administration (EIA) next Wednesday.
The EIA data showed this Wednesday that crude oil production in the country rose by 1,000 bpd, staying almost unchanged at 10.9 million bpd for the week ending June 15.
This marked the 22nd time that crude oil output in the U.S. showed an increase in the past 23 weeks.
The U.S.' crude oil production is expected to average 10.8 million bpd this year, and 11.8 million bpd next year, according to the EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook for June.
By Ovunc Kutlu in New York
Anadolu Agency