The number of active drilling rigs in the United States this week rose by 7, according to Baker Hughes.
The total rig count rose to 576—a figure that is 238 up from this time last year. Active rigs are still hundreds less than the 790 active rigs that were drilling in the pre-covid world.
The U.S. oil rig count rose by 4 to 471 while gas rigs rose by 3 to 105. Miscellaneous rigs held at zero.
The EIA's estimate for oil production in the United States for the week ending December 3, the last week for which there is data, rose 100,000 bpd for the third week in a row to 11.7 million bpd.
While oil production is still more than a million bpd under where it was leading up to the pandemic, U.S. oil production has been on a slow but steady upward trajectory Hurricane Ida struck the last week of August. Drilling rigs, meanwhile, have been climbing since the previous September, with production lagging.
Canada's overall rig count decreased by 3. Active oil and gas rigs in Canada are now at 177, up 66 on the year.
The rig count in the Permian Basin increased by 3 this week, with 118 rigs added since last year. The number of rigs in the nation's second most prolific basin, the Eagle Ford, saw a 2-rig increase in the number of active rigs. The Permian's total rig count is now 286, with 44 total in the Eagle Ford.
Primary Vision's Frac Spread Count, which tracks the number of completion crews finishing off previously drilled wells, shows that completion crews fell by 3 this week to 271 for week ending December 3. The frac count is up by more than 130 since the start of the year.
At 11:50 p.m. EDT, oil prices were trending up on the day. WTI was trading at $71.06—up 0.17% on the day and up roughly $3 per barrel on the week. The Brent benchmark traded at $74.47 up 0.07% on the day, also up $3 per barrel on the week.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Either way the USA continues to produce truly awesome amounts of refined product from all the various oils domestic or imported going on forever. US steel production looks set to surge for 2022 as well...all exclusive to imports. Canada appears to be have plunged into a massive hyperinflation so hardly surprising to see drilling activity soar in Canada....the USA's most valuable trading partner.