The pace of drilling new oil wells in the U.S. has slowed dramatically due to lower oil prices and the perceived risk that oil prices may crash again. The U.S. rig count (the number of drilling rigs in use in the U.S.) has dropped from 1,811 on 1/1/2015 to 406 rigs on Friday. That is a drop of 78%.

Many oil experts feel the reason for the oil price crash in 2014 and 2015 stems from new U.S. production this decade. The new U.S. production resulted in too much oil production worldwide. Now, with the downturn in drilling activity in the U.S. it is no wonder why oil prices have been trending up in 2016 (Source: Baker Hughes).