Wells Producing Oil News

U.S. energy firms this week cut oil rigs for a 12th week in a row to the lowest level since December 2009 as drillers continue to slash capital expenditures despite crude prices having apparently bottomed, data showed on Friday. Looking forward, many analysts think the rig count will rebound later this year when prices rise. Drillers removed six oil rigs in the week ended March 11, bringing the total rig count down to 386, oil services company Baker Hughes Inc said. That compares with 866 oil rigs operating in the same week a year ago. Drillers started to steadily reduce their rig count after crude prices began to collapse mid-2014. U.S. crude futures were trading just under $39 a barrel, up 8 percent on the week and set for its fourth weekly gain on forecasts of tighter supplies as U.S.

Fire broke out on an unmanned oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico approximately five miles south of Port Fourchon, La., the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) reported. BSEE is responding to the damaged unmanned platform in South Timbalier (ST) Block 27. The ST 27 IA platform is operated by Energy XXI, GOM, LLC, which reported to BSEE that the platform had been damaged, possibly by a vessel, at approximately 4:30 a.m. Friday. The fire on the platform was extinguished through firefighting efforts by vessels in the area, and no injuries have been reported.