US Oil Drilling Declines: Baker Hughes

The total number of active oil and gas rigs in the United States fell this week, according to new data released Friday by Baker Hughes.

The total number of rigs fell by 1 this week to 587 compared to 623 rigs in the same period last year.

The oil rig count fell by 4 this week to 484, down 18 from this time last year. The gas rig count rose by 3 this week to 99, a loss of 17 active gas rigs from this time last year. The various platforms remained the same in 4.

Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil production was flat in the week ended Sept. 20, according to weekly estimates released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Current weekly US oil production, according to the EIA, is 200,000 below their all-time high of 13.2 million bpd.

Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing uncompleted wells, rose in the week ended Sept. 20 from 230 to 236. The number is the second build in as many weeks after a five-game losing streak .

Drilling activity in the Permian fell by 1 this week to 306, a figure that is just 6 less than the same period last year. The Eagle Ford count was flat this week at 48 after being flat the previous week. Rigs on the Eagle Ford are now 1 below where they were at this time last year.

Oil prices traded lower on Friday following an Israeli strike on Hezbollah’s central command in Beruit. At 12:56 pm ET, benchmark WTI was trading up $0.49 (+0.72%) on the day at $68.16, though still down about $4 a barrel on the week-over-week basis. Benchmark Brent traded up $0.38 (+0.53%) on the day at $71.98, a loss of nearly $3 a barrel compared to last Friday.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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