U.S. rig count up 2
The U.S. rig count continued to rise this week as both WTI and Brent went above $50 per barrel. Both crude oil bench marks were down over 1% Friday, but Baker Hughes Industries (ticker: BHI) released the latest rig data, reporting the total rig count reached 524, up two from last week.
The total rig count for the week ended October 7, 2016, is still 271 rigs below this time last year when 795 rigs were actively drilling in the United States. The number of rigs drilling for oil increased by three this week to 425, while those drilling for gas fell by two to 94. One “miscellaneous” rig was added to the count as well this week, bring the miscellaneous rig count to two.
Canadian rigs targeting oil continued to add to their numbers this week, with three more actively drilling from this time last week. The number of Canadian rigs drilling for oil is now 13 more than this time last year. The number of rigs drilling for gas in Canada is still down year-over-year, however, at 78, down 28 from this time last week, and unchanged from last week.
On a basin-by-basin basis, the Barnett reported the largest increase in rig count with two bringing its total count to three. The only other basin to report additions was the Haynesville, which added one rig to its count. The DJ, Eagle Ford, and Permian all reported one less rig this week compared to last week.
