Mubasher: Oil rigs in the US rose this week by 6 to reach 597 active rigs this week, according to data released by Baker Hughes Oilfield Services on Friday.

This registered the fifth straight weekly increase and the highest number of rigs since 10 September 2015, according to the oil company.

The data also showed that the total number of active US rigs, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, also rose by 10 to 751 this week.

Brent crude future contracts slipped 0.13% to $55.58 per barrel by 18:09 GMT. Similarly, US crude futures were down 0.39% to $53.15 pb.