International and U.S. rig counts continued their downward fall, dropping by 14 and 13 rigs, respectively, since the most recent count, Baker Hughes Inc. reported Jan. 22 in its weekly rig count.

However, Canada bucked the trend again this week as its rig count jumped by 23 to 250 rigs. Winter is typically the busiest time of year for drilling in Western Canada as the frozen ground allows companies to move heavy equipment around easily. Although the number is up compared to the previous week, the number of rigs is down by 182 compared to last year at this time.

The international rig count fell to 1,095, down by 218 from December 2014; while the U.S. rig count dropped to 637, down by 996 from the count on Jan. 23, 2015.

U.S. energy firms this week cut oil rigs for a ninth week in the last ten, data showed on Jan. 22, and were expected to shed more in coming weeks due to a recent collapse in crude prices to the lowest levels since 2003. Drillers removed five oil rigs in the week ended Jan. 22, bringing the total U.S. oil rig count down to 510, the least since April 2010, Baker Hughes said. That compares with 1,317 oil rigs operating in the U.S. about the same week a year ago. In 2015, drillers cut on average 18 rigs per week for a total of 963 oil rigs for the year, the biggest annual decline since at least 1988.

U.S. crude oil futures soared over 7 percent on Jan. 22 as a cold snap boosted demand for heating oil and investors took advantage of the lowest prices since 2003 to close out some of their more profitable bets on price declines.

Despite the gains, U.S. crude was still down about 15 percent since the start of the year due to a persistent glut and weak demand.

Front-month U.S. crude futures were trading around $31 a barrel on Jan. 22, but were fetching $35 on average for the rest of 2016 and nearly $40 for 2017.

As energy firms reduce capital spending plans for 2016 due to the collapse in crude prices, analysts forecast drillers would be slower than previously expected to return to the well pad later this year.

"We continue to believe the rig count during the first quarter will represent the bottom, but now model slower growth for the remainder of 2016," analysts at Evercore ISI, an investment banking advisory firm, said in a note.

Despite its forecast for slower growth, however, Evercore said it expects the total number of U.S. natural gas and oil rigs to rise each quarter for the rest of the year after bottoming in the first quarter.

Evercore warned it could reduce its rig count forecast further as the decline in oil prices and recent guidance from exploration and production companies points to bigger capital spending cuts.

"We would not be surprised to see U.S. spending fall 40 percent to 50 percent in 2016," Evercore said, noting its initial survey of exploration and production companies pointed to a spending decline of 30 percent in 2016.