Oil continued its strong recovery this past week, making its largest one-week U.S. rig count jump in 31 months.
Oilfield services company Baker Hughes' report Friday shows that the active U.S. oil rig count spiked by 21, its biggest gain since July 2015. The active gas rig count also gained six.
The oil rig count of 498 is down 26 from this point last year, while the gas rig count of 125 is down 60. The combined count (including one categorized as miscellaneous) of 624 is down 85 year-over-year, but the count has steadily risen 54.5 percent since bottoming out at 404 this past May.
Texas powered the rig count jump, gaining 17 rigs this week, following seven last week. Colorado gained six this week, Wyoming gained three, Pennsylvania gained two, while Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico and North Dakota each gained one. Alaska, Louisiana and Oklahoma each lost one.
Canada gained 30 rigs this week, with 17 oil and one gas while losing one labeled miscellaneous. Its combined rig count of 230 is up 56 from a year ago.
Price Update
The price of Brent Crude oil held steady this week, opening Monday at $54.40 and checking in at $54.22 as of 2:47 ET Friday afternoon. Crude closed at $45.58 on Nov. 14.
