US Oil Drillers Turn Cautious as WTI Holds Near $85 per Barrel

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, bringing the total rig count in the US to 588, up 48 from this same time last year.

The number of active oil rigs rose by 1, reaching 451 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 41 above this same time last year. The number of gas rigs stayed the same at 127, which is 3 more than this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed at 10.

The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production fell slightly during week ending July 24. US crude oil production averaged 13.796 million bpd during the reporting period, down from 13.798 million bpd last week and up 482,000 bpd from a year ago.

Primary Vision's Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, rose by 2 in the week ending July 24, to 198 crews, after losing 4 in the week prior.

The number of active drilling rigs in the Permian Basin rose by 2 in the reporting period, hitting 260. This is 1 rigs above year-ago levels. The count in the Eagle Ford rose by 2 to 49, which is 10 more than this same time last year.

Oil prices were up on Friday with Brent now trading at $89.95 (+1.03%) per barrel. While up on the day, it is down $6 per barrel from this time last week. WTI was also trading up on the day at $84.67 (+1.29%).

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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