Here comes the Baker Hughes rig count ...

Baker Hughes will release its weekly count of US oil and gas rigs just after 1 p.m. ET.

The oil-rig count increased by seven to 425 last week, while the gas rig count rose by four to 96. The count of miscellaneous rigs was unchanged at one, taking the total count up by 11 to 522.

Drillers were forced to cut costs in the wake of the oil crash, and taking active rigs offline was one way to achieve that.

The rig count plunged, and its changes became a way to gauge how oilfields service providers were responding to the downturn.

Oil prices have stabilized in a range of about $40 to $50 per barrel. And on Thursday, West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the benchmark of US prices, rose above $50 per barrel for the first time since June.

There's usually a lag between when oil prices rise and when drillers bring rigs back online. As of last Friday, the count had not fallen for 14 straight weeks, likely reflecting producers' growing confidence as oil prices stopped tumbling.

More to come ...