Last week the U.S. added 13 rigs exploring for oil and gas, continuing its long-standing gain. Meanwhile, Canada's rig count declined further and the price of oil dipped further to under the $49 mark.
Friday's combined oil and gas rig count provided by oilfield services provider Baker Hughes showed that the current U.S. mark is now at 870 — up 107.1 percent year-over-year and up 115.3 percent since bottoming out at 404 in May 2016. The count is now at its highest since Aug. 28, 2015 (877).
Last week was the 15th straight week the combined U.S. rig count has increased. Oil rigs comprised 80.1 percent of the current U.S. count.
The U.S. added nine oil rigs last week, pushing its current mark to 697. It was the 15th straight week the oil rig count has grown, and the 25th week in the past 26. The 697 figure is up 109.9 percent year-over-year, up 117.7 percent since bottoming out at 316 in May 2016 and is at its highest mark since April 24, 20165 (703). The current oil rig total is still far below the the 1,600 mark it checked in at on Oct. 10, 2014, but has grown steadily for 11 months.
The U.S. also added four gas rigs last week. The active U.S. gas rig count of 171 is up 96.6 percent year-over-year, up 111.1 percent since bottoming out at 81 in May 2016 and is at its highest count since Dec. 11, 2015 (185).
The U.S.'s two miscellaneous rigs were unchanged from the previous week.
Texas led last week's overall U.S. rig count gain, adding 11 to a current total of 437 — up 136.2 percent year-over-year. Oklahoma added three and Wyoming added one, while New Mexico lost three.
Canada/North America
Canada's rig count continued to fall last week, losing another 14 rigs overall. It was Canada's ninth straight week of decline, and its count has decreased by 253 — or 74.2 percent — in that time.
Friday's Canada combined rig count of 85 is still up 129.7 percent year-over-year, though that percentage has dropped sharply over these past nine weeks. Canada's 24 current oil rigs are up by 14 year-over-year, and its 61 gas rigs are up by 35.
Friday's combined North American rig count of 955 dipped by one from a week earlier. It is up by 498 year-over-year — or 109.0 percent.
Oil Price Update
After falling by more than $3 the week before to under $50 per barrel, the price of WTI Crude Oil continued to decline throughout last week. Oil opened April 24 at $49.68 and fell to as low as $48.20 by mid-day April 27 — its lowest mark since March 28 — before rallying to $49.33 by the end of Friday. Oil opened Monday at $49.17 and was at $48.85 as of 8:49 a.m. CT.