The US oil and gas rig count increased by double digits this week, according to Baker Hughes, reaching 813 rigs after increasing by 14 for the week, according to Baker Hughes.
For oil rigs, this week saw an increase of 18 rigs-the first double-digit growth since the beginning of April, according to Baker Hughes data.
The total oil and gas rig count is now 267 down from this time last year.
The total number of active gas rigs in the United States fell by 4 according to the report, reaching 125. This compares to 197 a year ago.
The number of oil rigs have declined by 198 this year alone, but production has grown from 11.7 million bpd at the beginning of the year to 12.8 million bpd, for week ending Dec 13-just 100,000 bpd off the all-time high from a few weeks ago.
Oil prices were down on Friday ahead of the data despite the EIA's report that suggested this week that oil inventories in the US had fallen, as optimism over the China/US trade deal wears off.
The WTI benchmark at 11:56am was $60.55 per barrel, roughly up $0.60 from this time last week, but down $0.63 (-1.03%) on the day. The Brent benchmark was trading down $65.31 per barrel, up roughly $0.10 from last week and down $0.28 (-0.43%) on the day.
Canada's overall rig count decreased this week, with oil and gas rigs falling by 4 after last week's 15-rig increase. Oil and gas rigs in Canada now stand at 149, up 18 year on year.
At 16 minutes past the hour, WTI was trading at $60.32 and Brent was trading at $65.15.
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