The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose by 2 this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, bringing the total rig count in the US  to 546 this week, down 36 from this same time last year.

The number of active oil rigs stayed at 411 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 68 below this same time last year. The number of gas rigs rose by 3, reaching 125, which is 27 more than this time last year. The miscellaneous rig count slipped by 1 and now is at 10.

The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production fell again this week, by 36,000 bpd in the week ending January 23, to 13.696 million bpd on average, 166,000 bpd under the all-time high.

Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, rose for the third week in a row during week ending January 23, gaining 3 to reach 163. This is 20 under the same time last year.

The number of active drilling rigs in the Permian Basin slipped by 2 to 242, which is 61 rigs under year-ago levels. The count in the Eagle Ford held steady at 40, which is 6 fewer than this same time last year.

Oil prices were trading higher on the day prior to the data release. Brent futures are trading at $70.81 per barrel (+0.14%), up $5 per barrel from this time last year. WTI was trading up $0.24 per barrel on the day at $65.66.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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