Rig count increases again
The U.S. rig count rose to 535 rigs as of May 12. According to Enverus, the tally of oil and gas rigs operating in the U.S. is up 3% on the month and up 52% year-over-year.
The most notable week-over-week change occurred in the Permian Basin, where seven additional rigs were added in New Mexico’s Lea and Eddy counties within the Delaware Basin. Also in the Delaware, Reeves County, Texas, is the most active with 22 operating rigs.
WTI crude futures in the U.S. were trading around $65/bbl on May 14, putting the contract up about 34% so far this year after it fell about 21% last year. With prices mostly rising since October, some energy firms have said they plan to boost spending in 2021 after cutting drilling and completion expenditures over the past two years.
Overall, U.S. oil production is expected to ease from 11.3 million bbl/d in 2020 to 11 million bbl/d in 2021 before rising to 11.8 million bbl/d in 2022, according to government projections, which compares with the all-time annual high of 12.2 million bbl/d in 2019.
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