Climbed

The rig count in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) climbed 25% in the first three months from a year ago, led by drillers looking for oil, FBR Capital Markets analysts said Friday.

The rig count in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM) climbed 25% in the first three months from a year ago, led by drillers looking for oil, FBR Capital Markets analysts said Friday. Gas drilling offshore has been “muted,” the team said.

Oilfield operator Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) said Tuesday North American business climbed 9% sequentially in 4Q2009 after producers went back to work to drill more horizontal natural gas wells in U.S. and Canadian unconventional shale plays, as well as increased offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and the Permian and Williston basins.

Oilfield operator Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) said Tuesday North American business climbed 9% sequentially in 4Q2009 after producers went back to work to drill more horizontal natural gas wells in U.S. and Canadian unconventional shale plays, as well as increased offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and the Permian and Williston basins.

After quickly recording a low at $5.621 just minutes into Friday’s regular session, February natural gas futures climbed the rest of the day to close at $5.749, still down 5.7 cents from Thursday’s close but 17.7 cents higher than the previous week’s finish. News of a potential warm-up during the Jan. 11-15 week could have had something to do with the weakness Thursday and Friday.

With no signs of fresh bullish or bearish information, short-covering ahead of the weekend won the day Friday as May natural gas futures climbed for much of the regular session to close at $3.729, up 13 cents from Thursday and 11.9 cents higher than the previous week’s finish.

After trading mostly together over the last few weeks, natural gas and crude futures moved in opposite directions on Wednesday as November natural gas climbed 29 cents to close at $7.728 and November crude — pressured by a stout build in inventories — dropped $2.11 to close back under the $100/bbl mark at $98.53/bbl.

While Hurricane Ike began to pound the Texas coast Friday near Galveston and petroleum products and natural gas futures climbed on the day, front-month crude futures broke below the psychological $100/bbl mark for the first time in more than five months before settling higher as well. October natural gas futures finished the week at $7.366, up 11.8 cents from Thursday but 8.3 cents lower than the previous week’s close.

As crude futures climbed north of $144/bbl for the first time ever and natural gas futures hovered around the $13.50/MMBtu area last week, Stephen Smith, of Stephen Smith Energy Associates, said fundamental factors within the market this summer could push natural gas prices as high as $18-20/MMBtu.