US oil and gas exploration and production companies are paying more to hire drilling rigs as the number of rigs still idle after the slump declines.
Drilling costs were up by 8 per cent in June 2017 compared with their recent low in November 2016, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published on Thursday.
The rise in drilling costs has barely started to reverse the previous 34 per cent decline reported between March 2014 and November 2016, but it does mark an important turning point in the oilfield services costs cycle.
