Oklahoma advances 5 up to 123; U.S. Rig Count remains flat
The result of no change in the rig count to the number of oil and gas rigs this week will likely come as a slight reprieve to battered traders who took it on the chin last week as oil prices plummeted.
Crude oil prices have staged something of a comeback this past week after being knocked down severely when U.S. equity markets were getting torched. Continuing increases in oil rig counts have had minimal impact on prices, partly because production from the new rigs is still months away.
Between now and then, OPEC continues to express solidarity on maintaining the cartel’s and its partners’ production cuts through the end of this year. Since the beginning of 2017, when the cuts took effect, more than 100 million barrels of crude have been drained from global supplies. But stockpiles remain about 100 million barrels above the five-year average.
Weekly Summary: Rigs engaged in the exploration and production in the U.S. remained flat at 975 for the week ended February 16, 2018, after climbing up 29 rigs from the prior week. Land rigs lost 1 down to 956. The offshore rig count gained 2. Rigs drilling in the inland waters lost 1 for the week.
Oil Rig Count: The US crude oil rig count climbed by 7 to 798 for the week. There are 201 more rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil represent 81.8 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 – went down by 7 rigs, falling to 177. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 24 higher than last year’s level of 153.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Oklahoma increased by five rigs, Alaska gained four and Pennsylvania increased by three.
New Mexico decreased by three rigs; Louisiana, Ohio and West Virginia each lost two; and Colorado and North Dakota each decreased by one.
Arkansas, California, Kansas, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming were unchanged.
Summary of Major Plays – Ranked By Rig Count
– Permian Basin 433 rigs compared to last week’s 437 rigs
– Eagle Ford 70 rigs compared to last week’s 69 rigs
– Cana Woodford 67 rigs compared to last week’s 66 rigs
– Williston 49 rigs compared to last week’s 50 rigs
– Marcellus 56 rigs compared to last week’s 55 rigs
– Haynesville 50 rigs compared to last week’s 50 rigs
– DJ-Niobrara 25 rigs compared to last week’s 26 rigs
– Utica 22 rigs compared to last week’s 24 rigs
– Granite Wash 12 rigs compared to last week’s 11 rigs
– Arkoma Woodford 7 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.
