據世界石油4月1日休斯敦報道，在油價上漲和需求前景日益樂觀的情況下，美國石油鉆探業務以疫情爆發以來最快的速度增長。

根據貝克休斯周四發布的數據顯示，本周全國范圍內的石油鉆機總數增加了13臺，達到337臺，這是自2020年1月以來的最大增幅。

在美國基準原油西德克薩斯中質原油（West Texas Intermediate）3月均價超過每桶60美元（2019年5月以來首個月高于這一臨界值）之后，勘探商們對今年油價25%的上漲勢頭仍有信心。

樂觀情緒還受到以下預期的支撐:隨著新冠疫苗接種的激增，以及關閉了一年大部分時間的經濟體開始重新開放，全球原油供應增速將不足以滿足需求。盡管最近石油鉆機的數量出現了激增，但只有疫情開始時的一半左右。

高盛集團（Goldman Sachs Group Inc.）大宗商品研究主管杰夫?柯里（Jeff Currie）在接受彭博社電視臺采訪時表示，即便是歐佩克（OPEC）和相關產油國達成協議，也無法阻止供應收緊。

郝芬 譯自 世界石油

原文如下：

Drilling rig count climbs at fastest rate since the pandemic began

Oil drilling expanded in the U.S. at its fastest pace since the start of the pandemic amid rising prices and an increasingly optimistic demand outlook.

The total number of rigs searching for oil across the country rose by 13 this week to 337, the largest jump since January 2020, according to Baker Hughes data released Thursday.

Explorers are gaining confidence this year’s 25% run-up in prices is here to stay after the U.S. benchmark crude, West Texas Intermediate, averaged more than $60 a barrel in March -- the first calendar month above that threshold since May 2019.

Optimism has also been buoyed by expectations that global crude supplies won’t grow fast enough to satisfy demand as Covid-19 vaccinations proliferate and economies that shut down for the better part of a year begin reopening. Despite the recent jump, the oil rig count stands at about half of what it was when the pandemic began.

Even an agreement by OPEC and allied oil producers won’t head off that tightening of supplies, Jeff Currie, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s head of commodities research, told Bloomberg Television.