The number of active oil and gas rigs dipped again this week, according to Baker Hughes data, decreasing by 5 rigs, bringing the total rigs to 924 rigs, which is an addition of 259 rigs for the 2017 calendar year.
The number of oil rigs in the U.S. decreased by 5, while the number of gas rigs stayed the same. The number of oil rigs stands at 742 versus 529 a year ago. The number of gas rigs in the U.S. now stands at 182, up from 135 a year ago.
At 9:52am EST, the price of a WTI barrel was down $.60 (-0.97%) to $61.41, while the Brent barrel was trading down $0.35 (-0.51%) to $67.72. Both benchmarks are up week on week.
U.S. crude oil production has been on a steady upward trajectory during Q4 2017-a thorn in OPEC's side which has managed to cap price spikes courtesy of various supply disruptions and unrest in Iran. The last week of the 2017 calendar year, crude oil production came in at 9.782 million bpd-the second highest level in 2017.
Last week, Baker Hughes data showed an alarming drop off in Canada's rig count-the oilfield services provider reported that Canada lost 58 oil rigs and 16 gas rigs, marking a 21-rig loss year over year. This week, Canada regained 38 rigs (36 oil, 2 gas), but this still leaves Canada 31 rigs in the whole year over year.
The Permian basin rig count increased by 2 this week, standing at 400 rigs, or 133 above this same week last year. The Haynesville and Williston basins each lost a rig.
At 1:07pm EST, WTI was trading at $61.39 (-$0.62) with Brent trading at $67.62 (-$0.45).
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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