U.S. Rig Count Ticks Higher Amid Oil Price Slide

The number of oil and gas rigs in the United States rose by 3 this week, according to Baker Hughes-after rising by 9 last week.

The total rig count is now 503, up 249 from the same time last year-the highest rig count since April 2020, but still down sharply from the 790 active rigs in March 2020.

The U.S. oil rig count rose by 8 this week to 405, while the number of gas rigs fell by 5. Miscellaneous rigs held at zero.

The EIA's estimate for oil production in the United States for the week ending August 13 rose by 100,000 bpd for the third week in a row to an average of 11.4 million barrels per day.

Canada's overall rig count decreased by 8. Active oil and gas rigs in Canada are now at 156, up 100 on the year. 

The rig count in the Permian Basin rose by 2 this week, while rigs in the Eagle Ford fell by 1.  The Permian's total rig count is now 120 rigs above what it was this time last year, while the Eagle Ford's rig count is 26 more than it was this time last year, at 35.

The Frac Spread Count provided by Primary Vision shows that fracking crews rose to 238 for week ending August 13, up 3 for the week. The frac spread count estimates the number of completion crews finishing off previously drilled wells. This frac count is up by 100 so far this year.

At 12:16 p.m. EDT, oil prices were trending down about a percent on the day. WTI was trading at $63-down $6 per barrel on the week.  The Brent benchmark was trading at $65.77 per barrel, down more than $5 per barrel on the week.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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