Rig Count Update: July 6, 2018

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Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes reported Friday its weekly rig count report.

U.S. energy companies this week added oil rigs for the first time in three weeks, but the rate of growth has slowed over the past month or so with a decline in crude prices from late May through late June.

U.S. crude prices, however, jumped to their highest since November 2014 earlier this week.

So far this year, U.S. oil futures have averaged $65.71 per barrel. That compares with averages of $50.85 in 2017 and $43.47 in 2016.

The steady upward climb that U.S. oil production has been on throughout 2018 appears to have leveled off at 10.900 million bpd, where it has hovered for four weeks now.

Closing Oil Prices – Friday, July 6, 2018

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude closed Friday at $73.80 per barrel, a daily gain of 86 cents.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down 28 cents to $77.11 per barrel.

RIG COUNT

Weekly Summary: Rigs engaged in the exploration and production in the U.S. gained +5 for the week ended July 6, 2018, climbing to 1052.  Land rigs gained 5 to 1029. The offshore rig count was flat at 19.    Rigs drilling in the inland waters also remained flat at 4.

Oil Rig Count: The US crude oil rig count increased by 5 to 863 for the week. There are 100 more rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil represent 82.0 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 – was flat, remaining at 187. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 2 lower than last year’s level of 189.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states:

Gainers

New Mexico saw the largest gain with an increase of 4 units to a total of 99 rigs working. North Dakota gained 3 units to reach 57. Louisiana is up 2 units from last week for a total of 57 rigs running. Oklahoma and Wyoming each gained 1 rig from last week to reach 141 and 27 rigs running, respectively.

Unchanged

Five states were unchanged this week, namely Pennsylvania, 37; Ohio, 22; West Virginia, 17; California, 16; and Arkansas, 1.

Losers

Texas saw the largest drop in rigs again this week, down 4 units to 526. Rig counts in Alaska and Utah dropped 2 units each for totals of 7 and 6 rigs working, respectively. Colorado dropped 1 unit to 31.

Summary of Major Plays – Ranked By Rig Count

– Permian Basin 475 rigs compared to last week’s 474 rigs

– Eagle Ford 81 rigs compared to last week’s 80 rigs

– Cana Woodford 68 rigs compared to last week’s 74 rigs

– Williston 57 rigs compared to last week’s 54 rigs

– Marcellus 53 rigs compared to last week’s 53 rigs

– Haynesville 49 rigs compared to last week’s 50 rigs

– DJ-Niobrara 25 rigs compared to last week’s 26 rigs

– Utica 23 rigs compared to last week’s 23 rigs

– Granite Wash 16 rigs compared to last week’s 16 rigs

– Arkoma Woodford 8 rigs compared to last week’s 8 rigs

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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