US Drillers Add No Oil Rigs as Harvey Slows Production
U.S. energy firms did not add any oil rigs this week as Hurricane Harvey barrelled into the nation's energy heartland, forcing drillers to halt production and refiners to shut plants. The total oil rig count for the week ended Friday stayed at 759, General Electric Co's Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its report on Friday. That compares with 407 active oil rigs during the same week a year ago. Drillers have added rigs in 56 of the past 67 weeks since the start of June 2016. The rig count is an early indicator of future output.
US Drillers Continue to Add Oil Rigs
U.S. energy companies added oil rigs for a 14th week in the last 15, extending a nine-month recovery as drillers take advantage of crude prices that have held mostly over $50 a barrel since OPEC agreed to cut supplies in late November. Drillers added eight oil rigs in the week to Feb. 10, bringing the total count up to 591, the most since October 2015, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc said on Friday. During the same week a year ago, there were 439 active oil rigs. Since crude prices first topped $50 a barrel in May after recovering from 13-year lows last February, drillers have added a total of 275 oil rigs in 33 of the past 37 weeks, the biggest recovery in rigs since a global oil glut crushed the market over two years starting in mid 2014.
