Crude oil prices are trading higher on Friday as international geopolitical tensions rise and U.S. rig counts fall for the seventh consecutive week. Here’s a breakdown of what you need to know.

Rig Counts

This week’s Baker Hughes report indicated that U.S. energy companies shut down 10 additional rigs this week, lowering the total number of active rigs to only 595.

The last time the United States had less than 600 active rigs was July 2010.

In the seven consecutive weeks of reductions, U.S. companies have cut a total of 80 rigs. U.S. rig count reached its all-time peak at 1,609 just about one year ago.

Syria

A pair of international developing stories also have…

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