Oil and Gas Rotary Rig Counts: The total number of operating rigs in Canada for the week ending April 29th was 45 oil and 50 gas (totaling 95). In percentage terms, on a month on month (m/m) basis, oil rigs were down 29.7% and gas down 16.7%. On a year on year (y/y) comparison, rigs were up 125% for oil and up 61.3% for gas. The combined figure for y/y was +86.3% or 44 rigs.

Oil and Gas Rotary Rig Counts: The total number of operating rigs in the U.S. for the week ending April 29th was 552 oil and 144 gas (totaling 696). In percentage terms, on a month on month (m/m) basis, oil rigs were up 3.6% and gas was up 4.3%. On a year on year (y/y) comparison, rigs were up 61.4% for oil and up 50.0% for gas. The combined figure for y/y was +58.6%, or +258 rigs.

Employment by Industry (U.S.): In April 2022, the total number of seasonally adjusted (SA), non-farm people employed in the U.S. was 151.3 million (M) – an increase of 428,000 (+0.3%) month on month (m/m). When compared to April 2021, total employment is up by 4.6% year on year (y/y). Among the employment sectors that we track at Gerdau, we saw the greatest monthly gain in the oil and gas extraction sector with a growth of 3.9% m/m.

Advance Durable Goods Orders: The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new orders for durable goods in March 2022 increased by 0.8% month on month (m/m) to $275M, following the 1.7% decrease in February. The always-volatile nondefense aircraft orders, up 153.5% y/y, influenced this trend significantly.

Producer Price Index: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand grew 1.4% in March 2022 (seasonally adjusted), following the 0.9% increase in February. The index for final demand goods grew 2.3% in March, while the index for final demand services increased 0.9%. Leading the March increase in the index for final demand goods, diesel fuel prices jumped 20.4 percent.

Crude Oil & Natural Gas Pricing: March’s average West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price per barrel increased 18% month on month (m/m) – its third consecutive increase. The WTI is up 74% year on year (y/y), coming in at $108.50 / barrel in March 2022 vs. $62.33 / barrel in March 2021.