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W&T Offshore, Inc. (WTI) - $25 value - yours FREE >>
Abraxas Petroleum Corporation (AXAS) - $25 value - yours FREE >>
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US Oil Rig Count Falls after 10 Straight Weeks of Increase
For the first time in the last 10 weeks, U.S. oil rig count has declined. This was quite unexpected, especially in a time when crude has started regaining positive momentum. The news is as per the data provided by oilfield services player Baker Hughes Incorporated .
After a prolonged period of crude weaknesses following oversupplied commodity market, oil is advancing once again. Leaving behind the rat race for production share and the intention of kicking high cost producer U.S shale players out of the market, OPEC has decided to limit commodity production. Non-OPEC oil producers have also jumped on the bandwagon and have decided to cut output. This was no doubt the most important step taken to recover oil prices.
Amid such a scenario, U.S shale producers are trying to capitalize on the current price improvement by gathering to the oil patch to increase drilling. In other words, U.S. companies are trying to increase crude production as they will be able to sell the commodity at much higher prices. Definitely, the scenario is highly favorable for U.S. players.
Upstream players that are poised to benefit from the crude rally include Abraxas Petroleum Corporation (AXAS - Free Report) , Denbury Resources Inc. , Sundance Energy Australia Limited and W&T Offshore, Inc. (WTI - Free Report) . All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Quite unexpectedly, however, U.S. oil rig count fell by 7 to 522 from 529 as reported byBaker Hughes for the week ended Jan 13, 2017. Natural gas rig count, on the flip side, has increased by 1 to 136. Total rig count in the U.S. fell to 659 from 665. The decrease was attributable to DJ-Niobrara basin, where rig count decreased by 2.
Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017
In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017?
Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>>