Industry at a glance
Brent futures approached $50/bbl after OPEC+ agreed to add just 500,000 bopd in January, instead of 2 MMbopd, as previously agreed. Markets also strengthened on greater-than-anticipated stockpile drawdowns in Asia and the North Sea. Worldwide benchmarks have rallied for the last nine weeks, on optimism that demand will rebound, once Covid-19 vaccines are widely distributed. In November, spot prices for WTI and Brent hovered around $41-$42/bbl. U.S. drilling activity continued to recover, averaging 311 units in November, an 11% gain compared to the 280 reported in October. The majority of the increase was in Texas, which added 22 rigs, to average 144 in November. International activity continued on a downward spiral, averaging 736 rigs in October, 26 fewer than in September, and 64 less than reported in August.