Baker Hughes reported on Friday that the number of oil and gas rigs in the US fell again this week by 34, falling to 374, with the total oil and gas rigs sitting at 614 fewer than this time last year as U.S. drillers scurry to keep their heads above water amid strict stay-at-home orders that caused oil demand to plummet at alarming rates-and oil prices along with it.
It is the fewest number of active rigs since Baker Hughes started to keep in 1940.
The number of oil rigs decreased for the week by 33 rigs, according to Baker Hughes data, bringing the total to 292-a 513-rig loss year over year. It is the fewest number of active oil rigs since late 2009.
The total number of active gas rigs in the United States fell by 1 according to the report, to 80. This compares to 183 a year ago.
The EIA's estimate for the week is that oil production in the United States fell to 11.9 million barrels of oil per day on average for week ending May 1, which is 1.2 million bpd off the all-time high and a substantial 300,000 bpd lower than the week prior. It is the fifth straight weekly production decline. It is the first sub-12 million bpd rate in the United States since February 2019.
Canada's overall rig count decreased by 1 rigs this week, to 26 rigs. Oil and gas rigs in Canada are now down 37 year on year.
At 1:12 am, WTI was trading up 1.53% at $23.91, while the Brent benchmark was trading up 2.82% at $30.29.
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