Here comes the Baker Hughes rig count ...
The oil rig count jumped again last week, by 17 to 583 and to the highest level since October 23, 2015. The count was up 84% from the low reached in May 2016.
Drilling activity has increased as oil prices also recovered after the plunge in 2014. "Production proved even more resilient than the rig count: it took 35 weeks after the rig count started to decline before production began its own decline," said Societe Generale commodity strategists in a recent note. "From peak to trough, production only fell by approximately 12%."
"The resilience of US onshore oil supply in the face of lower prices demonstrates the profound technological transformations witnessed in the shale industry."
Robust US production now threatens to undermine efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some non-members to reduce the global oversupply of oil. The International Energy Agency said Friday that OPEC has achieved a record 90% compliance with its agreement last November to cut production.