MARKETWIRE ALERTS

MARKETWIRE ALERTS

MARKETWIRE ALERTS 

MarketWire Afternoon News for September 5^th

Updated at 5:00 PM ET 

HEADLINES:

— Baker Hughes: North America Rig Count Rises by 7

— AAR: Petroleum Carloads Fall 7.7%

— Analysis: EIA Reports Crude Stock Build as Imports Jump

NEWS:

Baker Hughes: North America Rig Count Rises by 7

 The North American rig count climbed this week, led by a jump in Canadian drilling activity, while U.S. totals saw a modest increase, according to data released Friday by Baker Hughes.

The number of rigs operating in the United States rose by one to 537, down by 45 rigs from the same week last year.

Oil-directed rigs increased by two to 414, while gas rigs edged down by one to 118. Miscellaneous rigs held steady at five.

Land-based drilling rose by one to 522 rigs. Offshore activity remained unchanged at 13 for a fifth straight week, and inland waters held flat at two. The Gulf of Mexico rig count was steady at 10.

Canada’s rig count increased by six to 181, driven by a three-rig gain in oil and a three-rig gain in gas. The total remains 39 rigs below the level reported in the same week last year.

The combined North American rig count rose by seven to 718, 84 rigs below the 802 counted in the corresponding week of 2024.

AAR: Petroleum Carloads Fall 7.7%

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) data show petroleum and petroleum product carloads totaled 10,559 in the week ending August 30, down by 7.7% from the same week in 2024.

Year to date, petroleum and petroleum products carloads totaled 360,510, 0.8% down on the corresponding period of the prior year, AAR reported on Wednesday.

AAR reports total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 521,502 carloads and intermodal units in the week profiled, up by 0.9% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week-ended August 30 reached 234,740, up by 0.6% compared to the same week last year, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 286,762 containers and trailers, a 1.2% increase from 2024.

For the first 35 weeks of 2025, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 7,749,143 carloads, up by 2.5% compared to the same period last year, and 9,471,267 intermodal units, up by 4.1% compared to last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 35 weeks of 2025 was 17,220,410 carloads and intermodal units, reflecting a 3.4% increase compared to last year.

Analysis: EIA Reports Crude Stock Build as Imports Jump

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories rose by 2.4 million barrels to 420.7 million bbls last week, up 0.6% year-on-year and 4% below the five-year seasonal average. The weekly build was almost entirely centered in Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point for WTI futures. While crude oil exports and refinery throughput were little changed, imports jumped 508,000 bpd to a three-week high 6.742 million bpd in the week ending August 29, Energy Information Administration data revealed Thursday.

Based on weekly EIA data, U.S. crude oil imports have last month outpaced August 2024 levels. In the four weeks ending August 29, crude oil imports averaged just shy of 6.6 million bpd, up 267,000 bpd, or 4.4%, year-on-year. Net imports over the past four weeks ran 173,000 bpd, or 6.8%, above the pace in the same time period in 2024.

With last week’s surprising crude oil build, which reversed the 2.4 million bbl draw from the prior week, commercial inventory levels have now caught up to year-ago levels but were still trailing the five-year seasonal average by about 4%.

Distillate fuel oil inventories expanded by 1.7 million bbls to 115.9 million bbls last week, trailing year-ago levels by 5.5% and the 5-year average by 13%. Nationwide gasoline stocks, meanwhile, fell for second week, dropping by 3.8 million bbls to 218.5 million bbls, closely in line with year-ago levels.