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The US oil rig count rose by one in August after gaining three rigs in July and losing one in June.
Oil prices had an upward movement in the week ending Aug. 31, posting two consecutive weekly gains after snapping the 7-week losing streak.
The West Texas Intermediate for October delivery fell $0.45 to settle at $69.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for October delivery lost $0.35 to $77.42 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Analysts pointed out the pipeline bottlenecks are causing big price differential between Midland and WTI which hit almost 25 dollars last week. Analysts see the pipeline bottleneck as a big threat against production growth of the Permian Basin, located in west Texas and southeast New Mexico.
RIG COUNT
Weekly Summary: Total rigs engaged in the exploration and production in the U.S. gained +4 for the week ended August 31, 2018, at 1048. Land rigs tacked on +3 to 1028. The offshore rig count was flat at 18. Rigs drilling in the inland waters gained +1 up to 2 for the week.
Oil Rig Count: The US crude oil rig count gained +2 at 862 for the week. There are 103 more rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil represent 82.2 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 – added +2 settling at 184. The number of rigs drilling for gas is higher by 1 rig than last year’s level of 183.
AMONG MAJOR OIL- AND GAS-PRODUCING STATES:
GAINERS
Kansas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania all gained 1 rig each.
UNCHANGED
TEN states were unchanged this week, namely Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
LOSERS
Oklahoma and New Mexico each lost 1 rig.
Summary of Major Plays – Ranked By Rig Count
– Permian Basin 486 rigs compared to last week’s 485 rigs
– Eagle Ford 78 rigs compared to last week’s 79 rigs
– Cana Woodford 67 rigs compared to last week’s 65 rigs
– Williston 52 rigs compared to last week’s 52 rigs
– Marcellus 53 rigs compared to last week’s 52 rigs
– Haynesville 49 rigs compared to last week’s 49 rigs
– DJ-Niobrara 24 rigs compared to last week’s 24 rigs
– Utica 22 rigs compared to last week’s 22 rigs
– Granite Wash 13 rigs compared to last week’s 15 rigs
– Arkoma Woodford 7 rigs compared to last week’s 7 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.
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.
SOURCE: Baker Hughes
