The oil rig count fell for a fourth straight week this week, by 4 to 640, according to driller Baker Hughes.
This week's drop was the slowest in the most recent streak of declines. The oil rig count fell by 8 last week.
Baker Hughes said the combined count of oil and gas rigs fell 4 to 838.
The oil rig count has been volatile of late. But the big picture is that compared to last year, the total rig count is down 1,093 from 1,931, and oil rigs are down 952.
The Energy Information Administration and analysts at Goldman Sachs forecast that US oil production would slow down from the second half of this year through 2016.
Following the data, crude oil was slightly higher, with West Texas Intermediate crude up less than 1% at around $45.31 per barrel in New York.
Here's the latest chart of the rig count:
