Coming off a rather abysmal week for oil prices, Baker Hughes reported a 3-rig increase for oil and gas in the United States this week.
The total number of active oil and gas drilling rigs now stands at 1,083 according to the report, with the number of active oil rigs increasing by 2 to reach 885 and the number of gas rigs increasing by 1 to 198.
The oil and gas rig count is now 154 up from this time last year, 138 of which is in oil rigs.
WTI prices were up slightly on Friday following a uneventful EIA report which showed US crude oil inventories were virtually unchanged for the week, contrary to Thursday's API report which showed a surprise crude oil inventory build. Brent crude was trading slight down on Friday, at $52.44 (-0.55%)
The WTI benchmark was trading up 0.29% (+$0.13) at $44.74, still down for the week.
Canada's oil and gas rigs for the week decreased by 61 rigs this week after losing over 50 rigs in the two weeks prior. Canada's total oil and gas rig count is now just 70, which is 66 fewer rigs than this time last year, with a 43-rig decrease for oil rigs, and a 18-rig decrease for gas rigs for the week as Canada's oil patch gears up for winter season.
The EIA's estimates for US production for the week ending December 14 continues to weigh on prices, averaging 11.6 million bpdÂ-a drop off from the high of 11.7 million bpd a few weeks ago.
By 1:08pm EDT, WTI had increased by 1.88% (+$0.64) at $45.45 on the day. Brent crude was trading up 1.25% (+$0.66) at $53.39 per barrel.
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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