Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes, Inc. showed a four-rig increase in the United States oil count, marking 16 straight weeks of no-decline in the active oil rig figure and signaling the continuation of a strong recovery for the country’s drilling activity.
The oil rig count now stands at an eight-month high at 432 sites – but still 163 rigs lower than the 595 figure that we saw one year ago.
Last week, the US oil rig count rose 3 to 428, while the gas rig count fell 2 to 94.
The number of active gas rigs rose by eleven, the biggest jump since late January. The gas rig total stood at 105, which is a 10-month high, but 87 rigs short of last year’s 192.
Zero Hedge predicts the trend of the increasing number of rigs will stop soon, because the counts have tracked the lagged oil price “very closely” over the past few weeks.
Canada saw a three-rig increase in its oil count and a three-rig decrease in its gas count, which meant a zero-sum difference in its total count.
State-wise, Louisiana saw a massive six-rig rise. New Mexico and Oklahoma saw a more modest three-rig increase each.
The biggest decreases by basin were the Eagle Ford and the Permian, which lost a total of six rigs.
Cana Woodford gained four rigs, while DJ-Niobrara, Haynesville and Marcellus saw a two-site increase.
Brent oil traded down by 0.71 percent at $51.66 at the time of the report’s writing. West Texas Intermediate barrel prices stood at $50.11, down by 0.65 percent.
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By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com
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