The total number of active oil and gas rigs in the United States fell again this week, according to new data released by Baker Hughes on Friday.

The total number of rigs fell by 1 to 585 this week, compared to 632 rigs in the same period last year.

The rig count remained the same this week after falling by two the week before. The rig count now stands at 483 – 29 fewer than the same period last year. The gas rig count fell by one this week to 97, a decrease of 18 active gas rigs compared to the same period last year. The other rig count remained unchanged at five.

Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil production rose 100,000 bpd in the week ended August 16, according to weekly estimates from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Current weekly oil production in the United States rose 100,000 bpd, according to the EIA, returning to the previous record of 13.4 million bpd.

Primary Vision’s frac spread count, an estimate of the number of teams completing unfinished wells, fell from 240 to 234 in the week ended Aug. 16, deepening the previous week’s loss.

Drilling activity in the Permian rose 3 this week to 306, a number that is 14 fewer than the same time last year. The number in the Eagle Ford fell 1 this week to 47, after falling 2 the week before. Rigs in the Eagle Ford are now 5 fewer than last year.

Oil prices rose on Friday. At 12:58 p.m. ET, the WTI benchmark was $1.79 (+2.45%) higher at $74.80 – a loss of $2 from the previous week despite today’s increase. The Brent benchmark was $1.74 (+2.25%) higher at $78.96 – a loss of $1 from the previous week.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More top articles from Oilprice.com