Elaine Thompson/AP
The oil drilling rig Polar Pioneer is towed toward a dock and in view of the Space Needle Thursday, May 14, 2015, in Elliott Bay in Seattle.
Over the last two years, the focus has been on the massive plunge in the number of active oil rigs, which followed the collapse in oil prices. Now that OPEC has agreed to its first output cut in eight years, pushing oil prices above $50 per barrel, US producers may be encouraged to ramp up production at a faster rate.
Last week, the number of active rigs increased by three to 474, a fourth straight rise that extended an uptrend which started earlier this year after it was clear that oil prices had bottomed. The gas rig count rose by two to 118, and there was one miscellaneous rig in use.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil was headed for its biggest weekly increase since the week of February 21, by 11.5%, ahead of the rig-count data release.