Oil, Gas Drilling Rigs in USA

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

The total number of platforms decreased by 2 this week compared to 630 platforms in the same period last year.

The oil rig count remained the same this week at 488, down 19 from this time last year. The gas rig count fell by 1 this week to 96, a loss of 22 active gas rigs from this time last year. Various platforms decreased by 1 platform to 4.

Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil production fell in the week ended Sept. 13, according to weekly estimates released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Current weekly US oil production, according to the EIA, is now 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. 13 from 220 to 230 after five weeks of losses.

Drilling activity in the Permian increased by 1 this week to 306, a figure that is 10 less than the same period last year. The Eagle Ford count was flat this week at 48 after being flat the previous week. Installations on the Eagle Ford are now 1 below where they were at this time last year.

Oil prices were relatively flat on Friday after showing strength with prices generally rising over the course of the week. At 12:49 ET, benchmark WTI was trading up $0.17 (+0.24%) on the day at $72.12 — a gain of about $3 a barrel week over week. Benchmark Brent traded down $0.13 (+0.17%) on the day at $74.75, a gain of about $2.50 a barrel compared to last Friday.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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