The number of active oil and gas rigs fell this week, according to Baker Hughes data, decreasing by 3 total rigs. This brings the total number of oil and gas rigs to 936, which is an addition of 242 rigs year over year.
The number of oil rigs in the United States fell by 5 this week after gaining 10 last week, while the number of gas rigs increased by 2. The number of oil rigs stands at 747 versus 551 a year ago. The number of gas rigs in the US now stands at 189, up 142 a year ago.
At 10:11am EST, the price of a WTI barrel was trading down $0.40 (-0.63%) to $63.49—nearly the same as this time last week. The Brent barrel was trading down $0.40 (-0.58%) to $68.91. Prices fell further in the early afternoon prior to the data release.
US crude oil production rose last week, resuming the upward movement that oil prices enjoyed throughout Q4 2017. The first week of 2018 saw production in the United States slipping from 9.782 million bpd in the last week of 2017, down to 9.492 million bpd. But this week, production moved upward again to 9.750 million bpd.
Canada has seen severe swings in its active oil and rig count. Last week, Canada saw 102 oil and gas rigs added. This week, Canada added another 49, bringing its total to 325.
Despite the overall decline in the number of rigs for the week, the Permian basin rig count increased by 6 this week, and now stands at 409 rigs, or 128 above this same week last year.
At 1:11pm EST, WTI was trading at $63.29 (-$0.60) with Brent trading at $68.64 (-$0.67).
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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