The US
oil - rig count
plateaued near the highest level in three years and showed signs of declining in late March (to 797), though it still stood 50 rigs above the year - end 2017 total.2 This contributed to expectations for a further increase in American crude production, which has topped 10 mb / d each week since early February, when WTI
prices began to recede from their intra-quarterly high of US$ 66.14 a barrel.3 The amount of crude in US storage occasionally exceeded weekly estimates given the higher domestic output and fluctuating net import figures, reigniting fears that US production may thwart OPEC's efforts to clear
global oversupply.