Crude oil prices are trading near $60
At the top of the hour, Baker Hughes rig count data for the current week will be released. Last week total rigs came in at 799. The oil rigs came in at 663 and gas rigs came in at 133.
The total rigs are at the lowest level since March 2017 when they were at 789. The peak since that time reached 1083 in December 2018. In 2019 the trajectory has been steadily eroding.
The oil rig count - which is a precursor to future output - has already declined for a record 12 months in a row. The declines are attributed to production companies cutting spending on new drilling in the low price environment. In short, they are not making enough on their low producing/high costing rigs.
