The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, bringing the total rig count in the US to 551 this week, down 41 from this same time last year.
The number of active oil rigs rose by 4 to 411 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 75 below this same time last year. The number of gas sunk by 2, reaching 132, which is 31 more than this time last year. The miscellaneous rig count stayed the same at 8.
The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production fell this week, by 6,000 bpd in the week ending February 27, to 13.696 million bpd on average, 166,000 bpd under the all-time high.
Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, rose again during the week ending February 27 by 7 after gaining 7 crews in the week prior.
The number of active drilling rigs in the Permian Basin rose again this week by 1, reaching 241, which is 63 rigs under year-ago levels. The count in the Eagle Ford rose by 3 to 43, which is 6 fewer than this same time last year.
Oil prices were seeing major swings on Friday as the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz, remains largely untraversed, and Iraq and Kuwait are curtailing oil production as there is just nowhere for the oil to go. Brent futures are trading at an astonishing $94.10 per barrel (+10.17%), up $20 week over week. WTI was trading up $11.21 per barrel on the day at $92.22, up more than $23 per barrel week over week.
U.S. drilling activity is unlikely to react immediately to the latest price surge. Historically, rig counts lag oil price spikes by several months as producers wait to see whether higher prices hold long-term before committing new capital.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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