Rig count down in Canada by three
On Friday, Baker Hughes released its weekly rig count. In the week ending August 11, the number of rigs drilling for oil in the US was 765, down by 1 compared to the previous week.
According to the oilfield services giant, the number of operational oil rigs sat at just under double the number of rigs at this time last year, which was 384.
In Canada, the rig count was down by three to 217, with five fewer oil rigs and two additional gas rigs in service.
Oil prices fell slightly in trading on Friday after the International Energy Agency predicted the global crude glut would hang on for longer than the agency had originally thought. As well, tensions between the US and North Korea left the market in a jittery mood.
Also on Friday, Reuters reported that Permian Basin shale producers are expected to boost their production by as much as 300,000 barrels per day (b/d), despite lower oil prices. Baker Hughes reported the number of rigs added in Texas last week was four, higher than any other oil producing state.
Consultancy Wood Mackenzie and Rystad Energy both expect oil production in the Permian to near or surpass the 2.7 million b/d mark.
The increase in output forecasts comes just after Pioneer Natural Resources missed its output last quarter and a number of other energy companies decided to cut their capex budgets.
“The Permian continues to surprise us to the upside,”Alex Beeker, an analyst at Wood Mackenzie told Reuters. Despite low oil prices and a slowing in drilling activity in the Permian, “we also see production continuing to rise,” he added.
Permian producer Parsley Energy Inc says it expects strong oil production and has also upped its forecast for how much gas it expects to pump this year.
“Look at the absolute oil volumes per well that are being produced,” Matt Gallagher, Parsley’s president, told Reuters in an interview. “There’s nothing from a geological basis that should change our oil forecast to the negative.”
