The increase in the week to Feb. 9 was the biggest weekly rise since January 2017.
More than half of those oil rigs were located in the Permian Basin in west Texas and eastern New Mexico where the number of active units increased by 10 this week to 437, the most since January 2015.
Weekly Summary: Rigs engaged in the exploration and production in the U.S. totaled 975 for the week ended February 9, 2018, up a whopping 29 rigs from last week. Land rigs made up all but one of these rigs, climbing by 28. The offshore rig count was flat. Rigs drilling in the inland waters picked up 1 for the week.
Oil Rig Count: The US crude oil rig count jumped by 26 to 791 for the week. There are 200 more rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil represent 81.1 percent of all drilling activity.
US oil rigs tested an all-time high of 1,609 in October 2014. In contrast, the rigs hit 316 in May 2016—the lowest level since the 1940s.
Natural Gas Rig Count: The natural gas rig count – which plunged to its lowest last August – picked up 3 rigs, rising to 184. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 35 higher than last year’s level of 149.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas increased by 14 rigs, North Dakota and Wyoming each gained four, Louisiana and New Mexico each increased by three and Kansas and Oklahoma each gained one.
Colorado decreased by one.
Alaska, Arkansas, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia were unchanged.
Summary of Major Plays – Ranked By Rig Count
– Permian Basin 437 rigs compared to last week’s 427 rigs
– Eagle Ford 69 rigs compared to last week’s 66 rigs
– Cana Woodford 66 rigs compared to last week’s 68 rigs
– Williston 50 rigs compared to last week’s 46 rigs
– Marcellus 55 rigs compared to last week’s 55 rigs
– Haynesville 50 rigs compared to last week’s 47 rigs
– DJ-Niobrara 26 rigs compared to last week’s 26 rigs
– Utica 24 rigs compared to last week’s 24 rigs
– Granite Wash 11 rigs compared to last week’s 12 rigs
– Arkoma Woodford 8 rigs compared to last week’s 8 rigs
For more details on the latest national and state news regarding last Friday’s Baker Hughes rig count data, check out the interactive rig count dashboard on the Oklahoma Index tab of our website.
Thank you for your continued support and keep an eye out for this week’s recap on Friday Snippets!
Compiled and Published by GIB KNIGHT
Gib Knight is a private oil and gas investor and consultant, providing clients advanced analytics and building innovative visual business intelligence solutions to visualize the results, across a broad spectrum of regulatory filings and production data in Oklahoma and Texas. He is the founder of OklahomaMinerals.com, an online resource designed for mineral owners in Oklahoma.
