US rig count decline appears to be slowing

摘要

Houston— US oil rig declines appear to be slowing as drilling programs are largely no longer in cutback, and with NYMEX crude prices holding just below $60/barrel, Baker Hughes data released Friday showed. US oil rigs fell 11 to 668 rigs this week, down 58% from its recent mid-October peak of 1,609 rigs. NYMEX front-month crude settled at $59.39/barrel Friday, up 45 cents/b on the day, and up from $43.46/b March 17, when roughly 200 more oil rigs were in operation. “Eleven rigs is almost getting to the noise level,” Allen Brooks, managing director of oil and gas at boutique energy investment bank PPHB said. “I don’t think we are done yet, but clearly there are fewer mass rig cutting decisions being made today.”