Stay updated on Oklahoma oil and gas stories, prices and the weekly rig count. Sign up for our Weekly Newsletter HERE.
Only 24 oil and gas rigs active in Oklahoma – Nationally, the count plummeted another 73 rigs.
SOURCES: Baker Hughes and Reuters
The oil and gas rig counts in Oklahoma and other oil-producing states are falling as quickly as workers can lower the rigs and put them into storage. The Baker Hughes county released on Friday showed only 24 rigs are active in Oklahoma, down two in the past week. A year ago, Oklahoma had 102 active rigs.
Analysts at Raymond James projected total U.S. oil and natural gas rigs would collapse from around 800 at the end of 2019 to a record low of around 400 by the middle of the year and around 200 at the end of 2020. The investment bank forecast the rig count would average a mere 225 rigs in 2021.
Oil Prices
U.S. crude futures had traded around $18 per barrel on Friday, ahead of its April 21 expiration as investors rapidly switched out of that contract into June futures.
Oil futures plunged on Monday as an enormous oversupply of crude is building up at U.S. pipelines.
West Texas Intermediate futures fell 34% to $11.98 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down 5.6% to $26.51. Oil stocks were falling in premarket trading, with Exxon Mobil (ticker: XOM) down 5.4%. Halliburton (HAL), which reported earnings and announced new budget cuts on Monday, also fell 6.7%.
West Texas crude futures set for May 2021 delivery are trading for $35.
Selling your minerals? – find out which groups still have money.
RIG COUNT
Weekly Summary:
Total rigs engaged in the exploration and production in the U.S. collapsed even lower, by 73 rigs for the week ended April 17, 2020, down now at 529. Land rigs were responsible for all but 1 rig, falling 72 rigs to 512. The offshore rig count lost 1 rig, with 17 rigs still running. Rigs drilling in the inland waters are still down at zero.
Oil Rig Count:
The US crude oil rig count went down 66 rigs, from 504 to 438 for the week. There are 387 fewer rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil represent 82.7percent 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 in August of 2017 – was down 7 rigs, to 89 rigs. The number of rigs drilling for gas is 98 rigs fewer than last year’s count.
AMONG MAJOR OIL- AND GAS-PRODUCING STATES:
GAINERS
Pennsylvania gained 1 rig.
UNCHANGED
FOUR states were unchanged, namely California, Colorado, Kansas, and Ohio
LOSERS
Texas lost 40 rigs, New Mexico lost 9, North Dakota down 7, West Virginia and Wyoming were down 4 each, Alaska lost 3, Louisiana and Oklahoma lost 2 each, while Utah lost 1 rig.
Summary of Major Plays – Ranked By Rig Count
-
– Permian Basin 283 rigs compared to last week’s 316 rigs
-
– Eagle Ford 42 rigs compared to last week’s 51 rigs
-
– Cana Woodford 7 rigs compared to last week’s 9 rigs
-
– Williston 34 rigs compared to last week’s 41 rigs
-
– Marcellus 35 rigs compared to last week’s 38 rigs
-
– Haynesville 35 rigs compared to last week’s 38 rigs
-
– DJ-Niobrara 16 rigs compared to last week’s 16 rigs
-
– Utica 9 rigs compared to last week’s 9 rigs
-
– Granite Wash 2 rigs compared to last week’s 2 rigs
-
– Ardmore Woodford 4 rigs compared to last week’s 4 rigs
-
– Arkoma Woodford 1 rig compared to last week’s 1 rig
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.
SOURCES: Baker Hughes and Reuters
