The U.S. active rig count rose this past week for the 14th time in 15 weeks, with the count rising by two to 524. The U.S. gained three oil rigs and lost one gas rig.
One year ago, 795 total U.S. rigs were active. The latest weekly report from oilfield services company Baker Hughes said that 428 rigs were actively searching for oil, 94 sought natural gas and two were listed as miscellaneous. One year ago, those counts were 605, 189 and one, respectively.
While the year-over-year total rig count is down by 34.1 percent, the count has climbed by 29.7 percent since bottoming out at 404 this past May. Looking at oil specifically, its rig count is down by 29.3 percent from last year.
Among top oil-and-gas producing states, Oklahoma and Texas each gained two. Alaska, Louisiana, Pennslyvania each gained one, while Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and West Virginia each lost one.
Canada gained 3 rigs total last week, with its overall count rising to 165. The three rigs gained were for oil. The country's active rigs are split 87 for oil and 78 for gas. One year ago, 74 oil rigs were active and 106 gas rigs were active.
Oil Price Update
The price of WTI Crude Oil ended Friday at $49.81 per barrel, up $3.51 from a week earlier and up $1.43 from a month earlier. Oil neared $51 Monday morning, hovering at $50.92 as of 9 a.m. CT. Oil fell to $40.30 on Aug. 2 and rallied to $49.73 by Aug. 19 before starting another slump.
