March 4, 2016 - 1:07 PM EST
Print Email Article Font Down Font Up
Rig count continues to fall in U.S., Oklahoma

March 04--The number of

U.S.
rigs drilling for oil and natural gas continued to tumble near a record low this week as commodity prices still weigh on the industry.

The country's drilling companies laid down another 13 rigs this week, dropping the count to 489, just one more than the lowest level since at least 1968, according to Baker Hughes. The count is down 75 percent from 1,929 on Nov. 21, 2014.

The rig count has tumbled by 175 since the first of the year as continued low oil and natural gas prices have led companies to cut drilling budgets for 2016. The

U.S.
count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and recorded a low of 488 in 1999. Baker Hughes publishes weekly rig count numbers dating back to 1968.

The number of rigs searching for oil this week fell by eight to 392, while natural gas rigs dropped five to 97.

State total drops to 70

In

Oklahoma
, the rig count dropped by three to 70, its lowest level since October 2009. The state level is down 67 percent from 214 on Nov. 26, 2014.

The falling rig count sparked a modest jump in oil prices Friday. Domestic benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1.35, or 3.9 percent, to close at $35.92 a barrel. With Friday's gain, oil is still 67 percent below the June 2014 levels, but is up 38 percent over the past three weeks.

The falling rig count has helped prop up oil prices in recent weeks in part because drilling rates are seen as an indicator of future production levels. The

U.S.
and world are awash in oil, and Wall Street is watching for production to drop.

Storage levels ris

Despite the steep downturn in rigs, however, production has slowed only modestly. Combined with low seasonal oil demand, the country's oil storage levels have continued to fill. Another 10.4 million barrels of oil were added to commercial storage this week, bumping the storage level to 518 million barrels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.

Home to the country's largest commercial oil storage hub,

Cushing's
inventories increased by 1.2 million barrels this week to 66.3 million.

___

(c)2016 The Oklahoman

Visit The Oklahoman at www.newsok.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

DISCLOSURE: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors, and do not represent the views of equities.com. Readers should not consider statements made by the author as formal recommendations and should consult their financial advisor before making any investment decisions. To read our full disclosure, please go to: http://www.equities.com/disclaimer


Source: Equities.com News (March 4, 2016 - 1:07 PM EST)

News by QuoteMedia
www.quotemedia.com

Legal Notice