Rig count in Canada and US down by a total of 15
HOUSTON _ The drop in the number of active rigs exploring for oil and gas in the United States and Canada continued this past week. Baker Hughes reports in the week ending on Apr. 8, there were seven fewer rigs operational in the US and eight less in Canada.
In the US, there were 443 rigs, down from the 450 reported last Friday. There were 354 oil rigs, down from 362 last week and the number of gas rigs increased by one, from 88 to 89.
In the major energy producing states, there were seven fewer rigs in Texas and two less in North Dakota. Alaska, California and Kansas all registered one fewer rig, while the rig count Colorado, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming remained steady.
Both Ohio and Oklahoma reported an increase of two rigs last week.
This time last year, there were 760 oil rigs, 225 gas rigs and three miscellaneous rigs operational in the United States.
In Canada, the downward rig count trend continued with three fewer oil rigs and five fewer gas rigs. A year ago, there were 20 oil rigs and 79 gas rigs operational in Canada.
The U.S. rig count peaked in 1981 at 4,530 and the previous low recorded in 1999 of 488 was passed on March 11, 2016.
The price of oil rose Friday morning. Benchmark U.S. crude rose $2.47, or 6.6 per cent, to $39.73 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained $2.41, or 6.1 per cent, to $41.84 a barrel in London.
Energy stocks also increased during trading activity on Friday.