The number of active oil rigs in the United States fell this week by 1 rig as drillers in the United States proceed more cautiously than earlier in the year. Combined, the total oil and gas rig count in the US now stands at 954 rigs, up 490 rigs from the year prior, with oil rigs in the United States decreasing by 1 and gas rigs decreasing by 3.
Canada, which added 14 oil and gas rigs the week prior, lost 3 rigs this week, with the number of oil rigs falling by 5 and gas rigs increasing by 2.
Prices lost a bit of ground on the week as signs point to the resilience of US oil producers who continue to take low oil prices on the chin. While down $0.13 week over week, WTI was trading up 0.84% on the day at $49.44 at 12:16pm. Brent crude trading up 0.73% on the day at $52.39.
The rise in the number of active rigs in the US has slowed in recent weeks, but US crude oil production is not, with average production averaging 9.43 million barrels per day for the week ending July 28, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), who expects US production to reach an average of 9.9 million barrels per day in 2018.
While flat this week, the Permian basin has proven most resilient in the low oil price environment boasting lower production costs and higher productivity, as well as a fair amount of hedging by Permian players at prices above $50.
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As of 12:19 CST, WTI crude sat at $49.41 - Keep track of oil price fluctuations on our Oil Price Charts page.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group. More