Friday’s Baker Hughes report heralded the end of eight straight weeks of US oil rig gains, which boasted a net change of zero, hopefully subduing, even if just for a day, the volatile oil market that seems to hang on-or sway with-every API or EIA report, and every word from OPEC’s, Saudi Arabia’s or Iran’s mouth.
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The rig count remained steady at 406 in the week to August 26, compared with 675 a year ago, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc said.
The U.S. lost two gas rigs last week, after two weeks of no movement on the domestic count, which now stands at 81.
Wyoming was the only other state to gain rigs, adding one for a total of nine.
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After disappointing weekly crude oil inventory reports by the American Petroleum Institute and U.S. Energy Information Administration, these comments weighed on the market this week. Alberta ended the week with 88 rigs, up from 79; British Columbia gained four to end at 15; Saskatchewan added 12 rigs to end at 37. Of the total, 406 of them are primarily drilling for oil. These preliminary figures are based on production volumes reported by operators and will be updated as late and corrected production reports are received. The total count is lower by 388 from a year earlier, while the oil-only is down by 256. June production came from 185,622 oil wells and 93,371 gas wells.
