The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday.
The total rig count fell by 3 to 586 this week, compared to 659 rigs this same time last year.
The number of oil rigs stayed the same this week, after gaining five rigs in the week prior. Oil rigs now stand at 482-down by 43 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs fell by 3 this week to 98, a loss of 30 active gas rigs from this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed the same at 6.
Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil production stayed the same for the week ending July 26. Current weekly oil production in the United States, according to the EIA, is now on par with the all-time high of 13.3 million bpd.
Primary Vision's Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells that are unfinished, rose in the week ending July 26, from 228 to 237, after falling sharply in the week prior.
Drilling activity in the Permian fell by 1 again this week to 303, a figure that is 26 fewer than this same time last year. The count in the Eagle Ford stayed the same this week, sitting at 50 after climbing by 1 rig in the week prior. Rigs in the Eagle Ford are now 4 below where they were this time last year.
Oil prices continued to spiral downward on Friday. At 1:00 p.m. ET, the WTI benchmark was trading down $3.09 (-4.05%) on the day at $73.22-a $4 loss week over week. The Brent benchmark was trading down $2.82 (-3.55%) on the day at $76.80.
By Julianne Geiger
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Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group. More