December 27, 2019//-The final US oil and gas rig count for the year decreased this week, according to Baker Hughes, reaching 805 rigs after decreasing by 8 for the week, according to Baker Hughes.
The total oil and gas rig count is now 278 down from this time last year—a nearly 26% drop.
For oil rigs, this week saw an decrease of 8 rigs, according to Baker Hughes data. The total number of active gas rigs in the United States held steady for the week according to the report, at 125 This compares to 198 a year ago.
The number of oil rigs have declined by 207 this year alone, but production has grown from 11.7 million bpd at the beginning of the year to 12.8 million bpd, for week ending Dec 20—just 100,000 bpd off the all-time high from a few weeks ago.
Oil prices were down on Friday ahead of the data on rumors that OPEC and allies may decide to quit its agreement to curb production at some point next year, and may ease the existing cuts as early as March.
The WTI benchmark at 9:58am was $61.51 per barrel, roughly up $1 from this time last week, but down $0.17 (-0.28%) on the day. The Brent benchmark was trading down, at $66.59. up roughly $1.25 per barrel from last week but down $0.17 (-0.25%) on the day.
Canada’s overall rig count decreased this week, with oil and gas rigs falling by a whopping 50, adding onto last week’s 4-rig decrease. Oil and gas rigs in Canada now stand at just 99, up 29 year on year.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
