Oil and gas companies added six rigs over the past week to drilling fields across the United States, Baker Hughes reported.
The U.S. rig count is now up to 933, after 22 consecutive weeks of increases. Oil drillers added six rigs, up to 747; gas rigs increased by 1, up to 186. Overall, the nation has 509 more rigs compared with this time last year.
Texas added no rigs, and Oklahoma lost four. North Dakota added three; New Mexico and Colorado added two. Louisiana and California each added one rig.
The record-breaking run of rig increases bodes well for U.S. oil production, but maybe not for prices. The U.S. Department of Energy expects to surpass the 1970 record of 10 million barrels a day by next year, a surge of supply that has help push crude prices below $45 a barrel.
The rig count is far from recovering its 2014 high, when rigs peaked at 1,930 and then fell to a record low of 404 when oil prices collapsed in during the first half of 2016.
This article first appeared on the Houston Chronicle – an Energy Voice content partner. For more click here.