Last week, the increase in oil and natural gas rigs in the US rose at the sharpest rate since January as producers were coming back into production as crude prices were around USD40/barrel over the last few months.
In the week ended October 16, the oil and gas count climbed for the fifth straight month by 13 to 282, according to Baker Hughes. Oil rig count hit the biggest build since January with an increase of 12 to 205, the highest since June. Gas rig count went up by one to 74 units.
Texas posted the most gain by seven, and three of the increase were in the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas.
In the past six months, US crude futures have risen by 116% to roughly USD41/barrel on Friday, supported by the optimism on global economies and the return of energy demand as more governments eased coronavirus-related lockdowns.
Nevertheless, US oil prices are still 34% below the level at the start of the year due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Going forward, analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. estimated more modest gains into the end of the year as the horizontal activity trough is now indeed behind.
