Canadian rig contractor Precision Drilling Corp. said on Feb. 9 it expects to charge higher fees for its rigs if oil prices continue to recover.

Encouraged by oil prices recovering from a two-year slump, oil and gas companies are putting more rigs to work, especially in shale fields. U.S. crude prices averaged $49.29 per barrel in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, up 16.9% from a year earlier.

The company said it was able to increase pricing on the spot market for most of its fleet.

Precision said its operating cost per utilization day in Canada fell 4.7% to C$9.9 million (US $7.5 million) in the latest quarter.

The company also said total operating costs fell 1.3%, while its general and administrative expenses plunged 22.1%.

Precision said it expected its 2017 capital spending to be C$108 million, down nearly 47% from last year.

The company's net loss narrowed to C$31 million ($23.6 million) from C$271 million, a year earlier, when it recorded one-time charges of about C$369 million.

The company's loss was 12 Canadian cents per share, lower than the average analysts' estimate of 15 Canadian cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue fell 17.7 percent to C$283.9 million, the company said on Feb. 9, but beat estimates of C$264.3 million. ($1 = 1.31 Canadian dollars)