Mar
24
U.S. Firms Add Oil Rig as Oil Prices Continue to Climb
After 12 weeks of declines in the number of U.S. oil rigs, U.S. energy firms added an oil rig last week, for a total rig count of 387 for the week, a report from the oil services company Baker Hughes showed. The addition suggests that oil producers are showing some willingness to begin drilling, in hopes that the dramatic increase in oil futures seen in the last several weeks will continue. Since hitting 12-year lows in mid-February, U.S. oil futures have increased by about 50%, to their current price of approximately $40 per barrel. Analysts are predicting that rig activity will increase further toward the end of 2016 and throughout 2017.
