The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell again this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday.
The total rig count fell by 2 to 583 this week, compared to 631 rigs this same time last year.
The number of oil rigs stayed the same this week after staying the same in the week prior. Oil rigs now stand at 483-down by 29 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs fell by 2 this week to 95, a loss of 19 active gas rigs from this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed the same at 5.
Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil production slipped by 100,000 bpd during the week ending August 23, according to weekly estimates published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Current weekly oil production in the United States, according to the EIA, have now returned to their previous record high of 13.3 million bpd.
Primary Vision's Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells that are unfinished, fell again in the week ending August 23, from 234 to 229, adding onto the last two weeks of losses.
Drilling activity in the Permian fell by 1 this week to 305, a figure that is 14 fewer than this same time last year. The count in the Eagle Ford rose by 1 this week, reaching 48 after falling by 1 in the week prior. Rigs in the Eagle Ford are now 2 below where they were this time last year.
Oil prices fell on Friday on rumors that OPEC+ would unwind its production cuts as planned beginning in October. At 12:27 p.m. ET, the WTI benchmark was trading down $1.85 (-2.44%) on the day at $74.06-a roughly $0.70 loss week over week. The Brent benchmark was trading down $1.06 (-1.33%) on the day at $78.88-nearly flat on the week.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group. More