Weekly count of U.S. oil rigs topped 600 for the first time since October 2015
The latest sign of recovery in the oil and gas sector came on Friday after oilfield service firm Baker Hughes reported its weekly count of U.S. oil rigs topped 600 for the first time since October 2015.
The number of active oil and gas rigs in the United States increased again, although modestly, and now stands at 754. The US oil-rig count increased by five to a total of 602 this week, marking another week of increases.
The gas rig count increased by two to 151. With one miscellaneous rig remaining in use, the total rig count rose by three, a modest increase compared to recent reports. Last week, the oil rig count rose by six and the gas rig count by four.
Production & Pricing
U.S. crude stocks rose by 564,000 barrels in the week to Feb. 17, the Energy Information Administration reported Thursday, although the gain was below analysts’ expectations for an increase of 3.5 million barrels.
The smaller-than-expected increase was largely due to sharply lower volumes of imported crude, potentially a sign that supply cuts by major oil exporters are manifesting in the U.S, analysts said.
“The oil market remains focused on the global rebalancing act, with attention centered on OPEC compliance and U.S. production growth,” said Michael Tran, director of energy strategy at RBC Capital Markets in New York.
Oil futures ended lower Friday, a day after the surprise reading on U.S. stockpiles helped lift the domestic crude benchmark to its highest close in more than a year and a half. Crude maintained losses after data showed a further rise in U.S. oil rigs, but ended the week with modest gains.
Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in April CLJ7, fell 46 cents to close at $53.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Thursday was the highest level since July 2015. April Brent crude LCOJ7 on London’s ICE Futures exchange dropped 59 cents to settle at $55.99 a barrel.
OKLAHOMA SUMMARY – 101 Rigs – No Change
We gained 1 vertical rig in Grady County last week. In the horizontal rig count, the net change was -1 HZ Rig, with Beckham County losing two rigs. Dewey, Grady, and Woodward Counties lost one rig each. Blaine County gained two rigs to top out the list at 27 rigs running. Canadian and Ellis Counties also gained one rig each. The rest were all unchanged for the week.
Check out our proprietary and interactive Rig Count Dashboard.
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Compiled and Published by GIB KNIGHT
Gib Knight is a private oil and gas investor and consultant, providing clients advanced analytics and building innovative visual business intelligence solutions to visualize the results, across a broad spectrum of regulatory filings and production data in Oklahoma and Texas. He is the founder of OklahomaMinerals.com, an online resource designed for mineral owners in Oklahoma. ☞Email:g.knight@oklahomaminerals.com
