US Drillers Add Oil Rigs For Fourth Week In A Row

U.S. energy companies added one oil rig this week, the fourth consecutive week of increases, despite a 9% decline in crude prices over the past four weeks.

Despite that decline, producers still expect higher prices for their oil in 2018 than they received in 2017.

The oil rig count in the week to June 15 rose to 863, the highest level since March 2015, Baker Hughes, a GE company, said in its weekly report. That was the 10th time drillers added rigs in the past 11 weeks, although the increases have slowed down in June to about one a week.