Baker Hughes reported an uptick in drilling operations across the United States during the latest reporting period. The total count of active oil and gas drilling rigs climbed to 588 units, representing a significant increase of 44 rigs compared to the same timeframe this time last year.
Within this overall growth, the number of active oil-focused rigs increased by 7 to reach 452 units, marking a 30-rig increase year-over-year. Gas rigs maintained their count at 126 units, though this represented a 9-rig gain from the prior year. Miscellaneous rigs remained unchanged at 10 units. Additionally, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration indicated that crude oil production rose modestly during the week ending July 10, with output averaging 13.861 million barrels per day, up slightly from the previous week and up 486,000 barrels per day from a year ago.
Regional activity showed mixed results. The Permian Basin, a major oil-producing region, saw its active rig count increase by 3 to reach 259 rigs, though this remained 4 rigs below year-ago levels. The Eagle Ford formation maintained its rig count at 47, representing a gain of 6 rigs from the same period last year. Meanwhile, Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, which tracks the number of well-completion crews, declined by 5 to reach 200 crews during the week ending July 10.
Commodity markets reflected broader positive sentiment on Friday. Brent crude oil prices surged 4.06% to trade at $87.65 per barrel, representing an approximately $12-per-barrel increase from the previous week. West Texas Intermediate crude also gained ground, trading up 4.15% at $82.23 per barrel.