The U.S. combined active oil and gas rig count ticked up for a second straight week on Friday, but only incrementally as Florida braces for Hurricane Irma just two weeks after the southeast Texas coast was ravaged by Hurricane Harvey.
Friday's combined rig count — provided by oilfield services provider Baker Hughes — rose by one, following a three-rig rise the week before. The total of 944 was up by 85.8 percent year-over-year and up by 133.4 percent since bottoming out at 404 in May 2016.
Oil rigs comprised 80.1 percent of Friday's total.
The U.S. oil rig count fell by three to 756. Its count is up 82.6 percent year-over-year and up 139.2 percent since bottoming out at 316 on May 27, 2016.
The U.S. added four gas rigs last week, moving its current mark to 187. The active gas rig count is up 103.3 percent year-over-year and up by 130.9 percent since bottoming out at 81 on Aug. 5 and Aug. 26, 2016.
The U.S. miscellaneous rig count remained at zero.
Of last week's combined rig count, New Mexico added three, while North Dakota, Pennsylvania and West Virginia each added one. Alaska lost a pair, while Arkansas, Colorado and Louisiana lost one apiece.
Canada/North America
Canada's combined rig count rose by one this past week following a loss of 16 the week before — its largest one-week loss since April 21 of this year. Moving to a total of 202, Canada added one gas rig while oil rigs were unchanged. Friday's combined count was up 50.7 percent year-over-year, with its 102 oil rigs up by 28 and its 100 gas rigs up by 41.
Friday's North American combined rig count of 1,146 was up by two from a week earlier. It is up by 504 year-over-year, or 78.5 percent.
Oil Price Update
The price of WTI Crude oil benefited from Hurricane Harvey this past week, as the storm reduced supply with many refineries in the Texas Gulf Coast going offline or limiting production during the past two weeks of recovery. Oil opened Tuesday (9/5) at $47.28, jumped to $48.98 that day and then hovered at above $49 for the next three days, reaching a high of $49.42 on Wednesday. But prices fell throughout Friday with oil demand expected to weaken due to Hurricane Irma. Oil closed Friday at $47.50, down $1.59 from the day's opening.
