Green New Inflation: U.S. Producers Add Rigs At Sluggish Pace Despite Soaring Oil Prices
U.S. oil producers have not been jolted into action by soaring petroleum prices.
Friday’s report from Baker Hughes Co. shows the number of oil rigs in the country grew by just five from a week earlier to 650. That represents a slowdown from the prior week, when the rig count expanded by 10.
The slow-motion expansion of oil rigs suggests hesitancy on the part of oil companies to increase production despite the highest oil prices since 2014. Many producers say the threat of anti-fossil fuel regulation is holding back expansion. As well, the experience from the last fracking boom, which resulted in many investors suffering losses when overproduction rendered many wells unprofitable, continues to haunt the industry.
Two hundred and forty-eight oil rigs have come online over the last twelve months. But the current count is 18 percent lower than February of 2020, before the pandemic hit. The total number of operating rigs in the U.S. fell to 244 by August of 2020 as demand for oil plunged, pushing the price into negative territory at one point.- READ MORE
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