US Drillers Pick Up The Pace

BKR +1.69% CL=F +0.22%

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.

The total rig count in the US rose by 5 to 554 this week, according to Baker Hughes, down 29 from this same time last year.

The number of active oil rigs rose by 2 in the reporting period, according to the data, reaching 419. Year over year, this represents a 60-rig decline. The number of gas rigs rose by 2 to 127, which is 28 more than this time last year. The miscellaneous rig count rose by 1 to 8.

The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production dipped just slightly in the week ending November 14 to 13.834 million bpd on average, just 28,000 bpd under the all-time high.

Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, broke a three-week losing streak in the week ending November 14, gaining 2 to reach 175. This is down from 201 at the beginning of the year.

The number of active drilling rigs in the Permian Basin rose by 1, reaching 254 this week, which is 49 rigs under year-ago levels. The count in the Eagle Ford stayed the same this week at 41, which is 7 fewer than this same time last year.

By 12:31 p.m. ET, the WTI benchmark was trading down on the day by $1.11 per barrel at $57.89, and down from this time last week. The Brent benchmark was trading down $1.01 per barrel on Friday at $62.37—down roughly $2 per barrel week over week.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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