N. Dakota oil and natural gas rig count up by 3

The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased this week by one to 885, although the Utah industry was unchanged. This marked a reversal in natural gas rig counts over the previous week while crude oil rig counts kept increasing.

Oil rig counts are used as a leading demand indicator for products consumed in the drilling, production and processing of hydrocarbons, according to Baker Hughes.

Shortly after the release, West Texas Intermediate crude fell below per barrel for the first time since 2009.

Julian Jessop, head of commodities analysis at Capital Economics, stated “falling industrial commodity costs are feeding again into rising considerations concerning the well being of the worldwide financial system”. Nevertheless, he added that he anticipates the negativity is overdone. The crude being pumped out of U.S. shale formations helped create a global glut that has pushed prices down 60% since June of previous year .

Crude output in the U.S. dropped by 47,000 bpd to 9.35 million last week, but remains nearly 70% higher than four years ago, EIA data show.