North American Rig Count Up Slightly Last Week

The Canadian rig count rose from 651 to 662 in the week, but has fallen by 39, from 701, year-over-year.

The number of U.S. oil rigs fell by 8 in the week, to 1,329, while the number of natural gas rigs rose by 7 to 428. In Canada, the oil rig count rose by 4 to 504 and the gas rig count rose by 7 to 151 for the week.

Among U.S. states, Texas saw its rig count rise by 5 week-over-week to 843, and Louisiana’s count fell by 1 to 110. For the year, the Texas count is down by 77, while Louisiana is down by 30 and Pennsylvania is down by 33.

U.S. oil rig counts have dropped from 1,408 at the end of October to 1,329 as of today, down 5%. The gas rig count is up from 416 to 428, a rise of about 3%.

Oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico are down from a peak of 37 in mid-January, but remain higher than at any time last year at a total of 32. Counts may continue to rise slowly into next month, but companies are cautious about capital spending this year, so any increase is likely to be small.