The U.S. oil and gas rig count continued its slide last week, while the price of oil spiked Friday to its highest mark since February.
Following a 15-rig loss two weeks ago, the active U.S. combined oil and gas rig count fell by another four this past week, with the count now at its lowest mark — 909 — since the week of May 26 (908).
Friday's count was up 352 year-over-year (YoY) — or 63.2 percent. That mark was up 72.2 percent two weeks earlier. The overall count (combining oil and gas) has declined by 49 since peaking at 958 on July 28.
Last week's oil rig count added one, moving to a mark of 737 and up 67.1 percent YoY. The U.S. lost five gas rigs, with its count falling to 172 and up 50.9 percent YoY.
The U.S. miscellaneous remained at zero.
Of last week's combined rig count, Texas added five, while Oklahoma and Wyoming each added one. Louisiana lost three, North Dakota and West Virginia each lost a pair, while Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania lost one apiece.
Canada/North America
Canada's combined rig count slid also continued, losing 11 this past week after losing 10 the week before. The country's total rig count decreased to 191 on Friday, which is now up only 38 YoY — or 24.8 percent — with its 96 oil rigs up by 23 and its 94 gas rigs up by 15.
Friday's North American combined rig count of 1,100 was down 15 from a week earlier. It is up by 390 YoY, or 54.9 percent.
Oil Price Update
The price of WTI Crude oil had a steady, modest increase throughout most of last week before making a major jump on Friday to its highest mark in eight months.
Oil opened last Monday, Oct. 24 at $51.90. It closed Tuesday at $52.42, closed Wednesday at $52.11 and closed Thursday at $52.65. It began Friday's surge once the workday started, going from $52.37 at 7:26 a.m. CT to $53.87 by 10:16 a.m. and peaked at its closing of $54.16. Oil opened Monday, Oct. 30 at $53.92 and jumped to $54.41 at 8:25 a.m. CT — its best mark since Feb. 23 of this year. Oil was at $54.35 as of 8:45 a.m.
