The number of active oil and gas drilling rigs in the United States has dropped again this week, continuing a downward trend seen in recent weeks. According to new data released by Baker Hughes on Wednesday, the total rig count fell by one to 582 rigs. This marks a decrease of 43 rigs compared to the same time last year.
The number of oil rigs decreased by two this week, bringing the total to 477 rigs. This is 28 fewer oil rigs than a year ago. In contrast, the number of gas rigs rose by one, reaching 100, but this is still 16 fewer rigs than last year. The count of miscellaneous rigs remained unchanged at five.
U.S. crude oil inventories also showed a decline. For the week ending November 22, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a draw of 1.8 million barrels, following a larger draw of 5.9 million barrels the previous week. Meanwhile, drilling activity in the U.S. continued to slow, as indicated by the Frac Spread Count from Primary Vision. This count, which tracks the number of crews completing unfinished wells, fell from 221 to 215 this week, a decrease of 21 since the start of the year.
Drilling activity in key oil fields remained stable. The Permian Basin, the largest U.S. oil-producing region, maintained its rig count at 303, which is 11 fewer rigs than this time last year. Similarly, the Eagle Ford Shale saw no change, with 48 rigs, just two below its count a year ago.
Oil prices held steady on Thursday, with trading activity subdued due to the Thanksgiving holiday. As of 4:23 p.m. ET, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up slightly at $68.88 per barrel, a gain of 0.23% on the day. The Brent benchmark also saw a small rise, climbing 0.62% to $73.28 per barrel. Earlier in the week, oil prices dipped due to a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, but some of those losses were recovered following the release of the EIA’s inventory data. Despite the fluctuations, oil prices remained largely flat throughout the week.
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