The number of active drilling rigs in the United States rose by 5 this week—the 18th straight weekly increase to the number of oil and gas rigs in the United States.
The total rig count now has now reached 650, as the world watches for any signs of increased output from the United States that would allow a weaning off from Russian oil—at least in part.
Baker Hughes reported this week that the total active rig figure—oil, gas, and miscellaneous—is 248 rigs higher than the rig count this time in 2021.
Oil-directed rigs rose 2 to 522, while gas-directed rigs were up by 3 to 127. Miscellaneous rigs stayed the same.
U.S. weekly production of crude oil stayed the same for the third week in a row at 11.6 million bpd, according to the latest Energy Information Administration for the week ending February 18.
The rig count in the Permian Basin rose by 3 this week, bringing the total rig count in the prolific Permian basin to 309.
Primary Vision's Frac Spread Count, which tracks the number of completion crews finishing off previously drilled wells, shows that completion crews rose for the seventh week in a row for week ending February 18. Completion crews rose by 8 to 283.
At 11:24 a.m. EST, oil prices were trending down the day after Thursday's large spike, after the Biden Administration declined to sanction Russia's energy sector after its attack on Ukraine.
WTI was trading at $91.27—down 1.66% on the day and flat on the week, despite the Russian aggression. The Brent benchmark traded at $96.98 per barrel at that time, down 2.12% on the day but up $4 per barrel on the week.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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