HOUSTON, July 8 (UPI) -- Globally, the number of rigs actively exploring for or producing oil or natural gas is down from May, though U.S. activity is rebounding, Baker Hughes reports.
The oilfield services company published rig data from June, reporting the global count of 927 was down about 3 percent from May and 19 percent lower year-on-year. The average U.S. rig count for June, meanwhile, was up about 2 percent from May, but down 50 percent from June 2015.
Rig counts serve as a loose gauge for the health of the oil and gas industry. The price for Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, is about 25 percent less than it was one year ago, through rebounding from the high $20 range in early 2016.
Oil prices collapsed in early trading July 1 after Baker Hughes showed a weekly gain of 11 of rig deployments. Recovery in rig counts suggests some drillers are finding economic reasons to move back to the fields after oil prices collapsed in early 2016. More rigs could lead to higher levels of production and push markets back toward the supply side.
Crude oil prices are down sharply from the $100 per barrel range common two years ago in part due to the rate of U.S. crude oil production left oil storage facilities filled to capacity because demand wasn't strong enough to take on the excess in supplies.
This week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a 2.2 million barrel decline in storage, the seventh straight week for a draw. Analysis emailed from S&P Global Platts found investors had expected a draw of 2.6 million barrels, suggesting demand wasn't as strong as the market had anticipated.
