Energy Companies Added Oil Rigs Last Week Despite Rock-Bottom Crude Prices

Crude oil prices moved marginally in early Asia trade Friday on reports of additional buildup in US crude stockpiles, fueling worries of a worsening global glut that has already affected prices struggling in the multiyear-lows range. That is about a third of the 1,536 oil rigs operating in same week a year ago.

Oil fell on Friday as bearish sentiment driven by oversupply rattled the market and was set to lead prices to a third straight weekly drop, the longest losing streak in four months.

The agency said with expected additional supplies from Indonesia, Australia and the U.S., prices may stay in backwardation, a market structure in which long-dated prices will be lower than they are now. USA crude futures for next year were trading around $40 a barrel, down from $42 last week, according to the full year 2016 calendar strip on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The catastrophic fall in crude oil prices suggests that crude oil producers may be less optimistic about higher crude oil prices in the short term.

The gains were spread across several of the largest North American oil fields, with the Permian Basin in Texas adding the most with five rigs.

The total rig count remained unchanged, while the number of gas rigs fell 17 to 168.

West Virginia increased by three rigs and Alaska, Kansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma were up one apiece.

We’ll have the latest rig-count data at the top of the hour.