The number of active oil and gas rigs in the United States dipped on Friday by 6 for a total of 659 active rigs, according to oilfield services provider Baker Hughes, which is 9 rigs above the rig count last year.
The number of oil rigs decreased 7 from 529 to 522, while the number of active gas rigs increased from 135 to 136 for a single-rig gain.
This week marks the first week in the last 12 that the number of oil rigs has decreased, and 10 straight weeks of gas rig increases.
Drillers in the United States have been slowly but steadily increasing the number of active drilling rigs in line with higher oil prices, particularly since the OPEC agreement on November 30 that saw OPEC agree to cut back production to 32.5 million bpd. This upward trend in the number of active rigs is expected to continue overall, barring any glitches in OPEC's promise to make good on the production cut deal solidified in November.
The number of active oil rigs is still well below 2014 figures, when the number of oil rigs operating in the United States sat comfortably above 1,500.
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A snapshot of the number of active oil and gas rigs by basin a year ago versus today shows a shift in activity, most notably away from Eagle Ford to the coveted Permian, which holds an estimated mean of 20 billion barrels of oil, 16 trillion cubic feet of associated natural gas, and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids. These figures signify the single largest continuous pool of oil that the U.S. Geological Survey has every surveyed.
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WTI was trading down 0.85 percent at $52.56 half an hour before the data release, with Brent at $55.66, down 0.62 percent. Immediately after the rig count release, WTI was sitting at US$52.60, and Brent at US$55.68.
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
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