Oil Rig Count Hits 800
Oklahoma gains 3 to 124; U.S. Rigs climb by 3
Bloomberg reported that U.S. oil explorers raised the rig count to 800 for the first time in almost three years amid booming domestic and overseas demand for crude and petroleum-based fuels.
Drillers have been accelerating exploration in an almost-unbroken streak since the beginning of November, vaulting American crude output to a record of more than 10 million barrels a day. The unrelenting pace of expansion signals even bigger production jumps yet to come, even as concerns about excess supplies recently weighed on oil prices.
More than 70 percent of the rigs are concentrated in just four major shale regions, the Baker Hughes data showed. The Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico is by far the dominant exploration theater with 434 rigs searching for crude.
Weekly Summary: Rigs engaged in the exploration and production in the U.S. gained 3 for the week ended March 2, 2018, up to 981. Land rigs climbed up 4 to 963. The offshore rig count was minus 3. Rigs drilling in the inland waters gained 2 for the week.
Oil Rig Count: The US crude oil rig count climbed by 1 to 800 for the week. There are 191 more rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil represent 81.5 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 up by 2 rigs, gaining to 181. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 35 higher than last year’s level of 146.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Oklahoma increased by three rigs, Alaska and Pennsylvania each gained two rigs and New Mexico and Texas each increased by one.
Colorado decreased by three rigs, North Dakota lost two rigs and Louisiana lost one.
Arkansas, California, Ohio, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming were unchanged.
Summary of Major Plays – Ranked By Rig Count
– Permian Basin 434 rigs compared to last week’s 435 rigs
– Eagle Ford 70 rigs compared to last week’s 70 rigs
– Cana Woodford 68 rigs compared to last week’s 69 rigs
– Williston 48 rigs compared to last week’s 50 rigs
– Marcellus 56 rigs compared to last week’s 54 rigs
– Haynesville 51 rigs compared to last week’s 51 rigs
– DJ-Niobrara 25 rigs compared to last week’s 26 rigs
– Utica 23 rigs compared to last week’s 23 rigs
– Granite Wash 12 rigs compared to last week’s 12 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.
