USA rig count declines by 10 this week to 757

Oil equipment company Baker Hughes (BHI) releases its natural gas rig count every Friday. The most recent time crude prices were much higher than now was in May and June, when US futures averaged $60 a barrel. The bearish trend of natural gas prices and natural gas rigs suggests that oil and gas producers are less optimistic about higher natural gas prices.

The strength of the US dollar, near seven-month highs, has a negative impact on crude prices, making oil and other commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies, analysts said.

Brent, the global benchmark, fell 0.2% to $44.14 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Flynn said that terror fears like last week’s Paris attacks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/paris-attacks-suspected-mastermind-was-already-target-of-a-western-kill-order-2015-11-17) and the hostage situation in a Mali hotel (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mali-hotel-attack-special-forces-move-in-begin-freeing-hostages-2015-11-20) may also be factoring into oil’s moves.

And earlier this week, crude oil fell below $40 per barrel once again, for the first time since August. Data on United States oil inventories earlier this week from the Energy Information Administration proved that crude stockpiles continue to mount.

“Additional oil could reach the market from Iran in the course of the first quarter of 2016, thereby swelling the oversupply”, analysts at Commerzbank said in a note to clients. Market participants don’t expect the oil cartel to decide to trim oil production meaningfully. Heating oil posted a 1% weekly drop. The number of natural gas rigs stayed the same this week at 193.

Over thirty oil drilling rigs idling in a Helmerich & Payne, Inc. yard along Groening Street in Odessa, Texas, in the Permian Basin on May 18, 2015.