The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose by 6 this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, bringing the total rigs gained this year to 7.
The total rig count rose by 7 to 629 this week, compared to 754 rigs this same time last year.
The number of oil rigs rose by 6 this week after falling by 2 in the week prior. Oil rigs now stand at 510--down by 79 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs rose this week by 1 to 116, a loss of 46 active gas rigs from this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed the same at 3.
Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil production fell again this week, to an average of 13.1 million bpd in the week ending March 8, down from the all-time high of 13.3 million bpd.
Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells that are unfinished, fell in the week ending March 8 after a string of seven weeks of gains. Completions fell by 9 to 263 for the week, falling back to February levels.
The Permian saw a 3-rig increase after decreasing by 2 the week before. The count in the Eagle Ford rose by 3 rigs this week after seeing no movement in the two weeks prior.
Oil prices were trading down on Friday afternoon. At 12:59 p.m. ET, the WTI benchmark was trading down $0.11 (-0.14%) on the day at $81.15, up roughly $3 per barrel week over week.
The Brent benchmark was trading down $0.04 (-0.05%) at $85.38, also up roughly $3 per barrel from a week ago.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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