Uh-oh: U.S. oil rigs are sliding once again, and it’s alarming investors

Uh-oh: U.S. oil rigs are sliding once again, and it’s alarming investors

Despite oil prices showing some positive signs this week, it's not enough to spare the oil industry, which is seeing oil rigs being shut down at an alarming rate.

As slumping oil prices continue to plague the industry, the drop in the number of U.S. rigs drilling for oil picked up the pace this week, meaning that the slowdown was only temporary.

Oil rigs plunged from 802 to 760, the biggest drop in a month after just 11 and 12 rigs were lost in the past two weeks, as U.S. natural gas rigs rose by three to 225, according to a Reuters report, which used data from oil service firm Baker Hughes.

Analysts had considered that maybe oil drillers had stopped making deep cuts after oil rig declines slowed in March and crude oil price had stabilized at $50 per barrel. But Friday’s data indicated that we may not be at the bottom yet.

Prices rose 2 percent Friday and 5 percent on the week to close above $51 per barrel, according to the report.

Unfortunately, that’s not quite enough to help the oil industry, and job losses are continuing to mount, so rig losses could continue in earnest in the coming weeks. One analyst said it was a sign of tumult in the oil industry that hasn’t yet abated.

It was the 18th week in a row that the oil rig count had dropped, reaching lows last seen in late 2010.

It’s all part of a move by U.S. energy firms to cut spending, resulting in job losses and wells that sit idle in recent months as crude oil prices have dipped 50 percent since the summer over concerns about oversupply and demand that has fallen worldwide.

Oil rigs have dropped in concert with the prices, dropping from its high of 1,609 in October to just 760 today, a more-than-50-percent drop.

However, despite the drop, oil output has remained at its peak, dropping only one week in recent months.

In Canada, meanwhile, the number of rigs has remained at 20, which is the lowest since 2009.

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