US Drillers Add Oil Rigs as WTI Jumps 14%

Group 1: Drilling Activity - The total number of active drilling rigs in the United States increased to 551, which is 41 rigs lower than the same time last year [1] - Active oil rigs rose by 4 to 411, which is 75 rigs below the same time last year, while gas rigs decreased by 2 to 132, which is 31 more than last year [2] - The number of active drilling rigs in the Permian Basin rose by 1 to 241, which is 63 rigs under year-ago levels, and the Eagle Ford count increased by 3 to 43, which is 6 fewer than last year [3] Group 2: Oil Production and Prices - U.S. crude oil production fell by 6,000 barrels per day (bpd) to an average of 13.696 million bpd, which is 166,000 bpd below the all-time high [2] - Oil prices experienced significant fluctuations, with Brent futures trading at $94.10 per barrel, up 10.17% and $20 week over week, while WTI was at $92.22, up more than $23 per barrel week over week [4] Group 3: Market Reactions - U.S. drilling activity is expected to lag behind the recent price surge, as historically rig counts respond to oil price spikes with a delay of several months [5]