The U.S. rig count posted a marginal gain last week, while the price of WTI crude oil fell more than $3 throughout the week and sunk further on Monday morning to below $70 per barrel.
Friday's rig count showed that the U.S. added two total rigs, following a gain of five the week before. Friday's count of 1,054 was up 102 year-over-year (YoY), or 10.7 percent. Data from oilfield services provider Baker Hughes shows the U.S. added two gas rigs while oil rigs were unchanged, with the oil rig count of 863 now up 98 YoY (+12.8 percent) and its gas rig count of 189 up by two (+1.1 percent). The U.S. miscellaneous rig count remained at two.
Year-to-date, the U.S. combined rig count is up 125 through 28 weeks of 2018, which has included 20 weekly gains, seven decreases and one hold.
Of last week's combined rig count, Texas added two, Colorado and Louisiana each added one, while Alaska and California lost one apiece.
Below is the daily U.S. rig count provided by Drillinginfo on its DailyRigcount.com:
Canada/North America
Canada's seasonal rig count gain continued last week, with it adding 15 rigs. Its count rose to 197, up six YoY (+3.1 percent) and up 118 since bottoming out at 79 on May 11. Last week Canada added 13 oil rigs and two gas rigs, with its 139 oil rigs now up 33 YoY and its 58 gas rigs down by 27.
Friday's North American combined rig count of 1,251 increased by 17 from a week earlier and was up by 108 YoY, or 9.4 percent.
Oil Price Update
The price of WTI Crude oil was looking strong early last week, before falling sharply on Wednesday and starting this week below the $70 mark. Oil opened Monday, July 9 at $74.06 and peaked at $74.65 on Tuesday morning — its highest mark since mid-November 2014 — and held in the $73 range the first half of Wednesday until beginning rapid fall to below $70.50 by the early afternoon. Oil closed Wednesday at $70.82 and then fell as low as $69.29 late Thursday morning before rallying to close that day at $70.38. It recovered to $71.48 by early Friday afternoon and closed the workweek at $70.55. Oil opened Monday at $70.56 and declined to as low as $69.22. It was at $69.57 as of 8:42 a.m.
