U.S., Canadian Rig Count Rise

The number of oil and gas rigs in the United States rose by 3 this week, according to Baker Hughes—after falling by 3 last week. 

The total rig count is now 491, up 244 from the same time last year, but down sharply from the 790 active rigs prior to the pandemic.

The U.S. oil rig count rose by 2 this week to 387, while the number of gas rigs stayed the same. Miscellaneous rigs rose by 1.

The EIA’s estimate for oil production in the United States for the week ending July 30 stayed the same, for an average of 11.2 million barrels per day. That’s 2 million barrels per day short of the levels produced prior to the pandemic.

Canada’s overall rig count increased the same amount as the U.S. rig count. Active oil and gas rigs in Canada are now at 156, up 109 on the year. 

The rig count in the two the Permian and Eagle Ford stayed the same this week. At 243 rigs, the Permian’s total rig count is now 121 rigs above what it was this time last year, while the Eagle Ford’s rig count is 21 more than it was this time last year, at 32.

The Frac Spread Count provided by Primary Vision shows that fracking crews fell to 239 for week ending July 30, down 4 for the week. The frac spread count estimates the number of completion crews finishing off previously drilled wells. This frac count is up by more than 100 so far this year.

At 1:5 p.m. EDT, WTI was trading at $68.33 barrel—down $0.76 on the day and roughly $5.70 per barrel on the week. The Brent benchmark was trading at $70.78 per barrel, also down sharply from this time last week.