HOUSTON, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. overall drilling rig activity remained flat this week, but that included a jump in oil drilling offset by a drop in natural gas development, according to weekly data collected by Houston's Baker Hughes oilfield services firm on Friday.

Oil drilling activity picked up nationwide, but the number of rigs in West Texas' booming Permian Basin actually declined by four.

A net total of seven new oil-drilling rigs were added across the country, which was balanced out by the seven-rig decline in gas activity.

Texas also stayed flat overall with the Permian dip offset by small increases in other parts of the state like South Texas' Eagle Ford shale region.

The total U.S. rig count is now up to 975 rigs - the highest number in nearly three years. The total U.S. rig count is well up from an all-time low of 404 rigs in May 2016.

Early Friday afternoon, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. benchmark for the price of oil, and Brent benchmarks increased by 0.62 percent and 0.9 percent to 61.55 U.S. dollars and 64.91 dollars respectively.

Oil prices surged late 2017 with WTI hovering above 65 dollars a barrel, the highest since December 2014. However, the U.S. benchmark for the price of oil tumbled about 2.5 percent to less than 62 dollars a barrel last week, sliding to a two-week low following a plunge in global equities.