Oil rig count falling everywhere globally, except North America
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- Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) released the Company's monthly tally of international rig count on Friday, showing counts falling in every geography outside of North America during February.
- In Canada and the US, rigs in operation rose by 30 and 35 respectively, even as producers stuck to plans for limited production growth.
- As OPEC+ continues to struggle to meet production quotas, rigs in the middle east fell by 2 (~1%) during the month.
- Europe saw its rig count fall by 9 to 102, while Latin America, Africa and Asia saw counts fall by 5 (~3%), 5 (~6%), and 7 (~4%), respectively.
- Offshore rig operators like Transocean (NYSE:RIG) and Valaris (NYSE:VAL) stand to benefit if higher oil prices (NYSEARCA:USO) lift offshore activity; however, falling rig counts internationally suggest large producers like BP (NYSE:BP) and Exxon (NYSE:XOM) are focused on core positions in the US onshore rather than offshore drilling.