The number of oil and gas rigs in the U.S. is down significantly from prior peaks but has recovered from the lows of 2016.
The U.S. rig count, an early indicator of future output, is much higher than a year ago when only 522 rigs were active after energy companies boosted spending plans in 2017 as crude started recovering from a two-year price crash.
The increase in U.S. drilling lasted 14 months before briefly stalling in the second half of last year as some producers trimmed their 2017 spending plans after prices turned soft over the summer.
U.S. energy companies added 10 oil rigs this week, the biggest increase since June, as crude prices rose to their highest levels in three years, prompting drillers to return to the oil patch.
Weekly Summary: Rigs engaged in the exploration and production in the U.S. totaled 939 for the week ended January 12, 2018, up 15 from last week. That’s up from the 659 rigs that were active a year ago. Land rigs popped by 13 while the offshore rig count gained 2. Rigs drilling in the inland waters count were flat for the week.
Oil Rig Count: The US crude oil rig count jumped up 10 to 752 for the week. There are 230 more rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil represent 80.0 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 – stayed gained 5 go 187. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 51 higher than last year’s level of 136.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Louisiana and New Mexico each gained five rigs, Oklahoma increased by three, Colorado gained two and Alaska and Utah each increased by one.
Texas lost two rigs.
Arkansas, California, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wyoming were unchanged.
The most active counties in Oklahoma with double-digit rigs running are Grady (28), Blaine (14), Canadian (14), Kingfisher (11), and Dewey (11).
- By drilling trajectory, there were 805 horizontal rigs, up 7; 62 vertical rigs, flat; and 72 directional rigs, up by 8.
Summary of Major Plays – Ranked By Rig Count
– Permian Basin 403 rigs compared to last week’s 400 rigs
– Eagle Ford 70 rigs compared to last week’s 70 rigs
– Cana Woodford 73 rigs compared to last week’s 73 rigs
– Williston 48 rigs compared to last week’s 48 rigs
– Marcellus 48 rigs compared to last week’s 48 rigs
– Haynesville 46 rigs compared to last week’s 45 rigs
– DJ-Niobrara 27 rigs compared to last week’s 26 rigs
– Utica 28 rigs compared to last week’s 28 rigs
– Granite Wash 12 rigs compared to last week’s 12 rigs
– Arkoma Woodford 9 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.
