Shares of U.S oil drillers are notably higher on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration, or EIA, reported that U.S. commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 9.9M barrels from the previous week. At 416.6M barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 4% below the five-year average for this time of year. DRILLERS CUT RIGS: The total oil rig count dipped to 862 in the week to June 22, according to the Baker Hughes rig report, issued on this past Friday. "That put the rig count on track for its smallest monthly gain since declining by two rigs in March with just three rigs added so far in June," said Reuters at the time. PRICE ACTION: Shares of Transocean (RIG), Diamond Offshore (DO), Noble Corp. (NE), Ensco (ESV), Rowan Companies (RDC), and Nabors (NBR) are all higher in afternoon trading.
