Baker Hughes has published its International Rig Count with production numbers for October. This is a monthly rig count and breaks down the international rigs by oil, gas and miscellaneous. Baker Hughes does not include the Former Soviet Union countries in their count or totals. Baker Hughes also includes the U.S. and Canada in their monthly count but they do not break U.S. and Canada monthly totals down by oil and gas.
All rigs were down 85 rigs in October to 2,086 rigs. October '14 to October '15 total world rigs were down 1,571 rigs or 43 percent.
U.S. total rigs were down 57 rigs in October to 791. October '14 to October '15 U.S. rigs were down 1,134 rigs or 59 percent.
Canada was up one rig in October to 194. October '14 to October '15 Canada is down 240 rigs or 56.6 percent. For several years now Canadian rigs have peaked in February. This year it was different, however.
Total international oil rigs were down 17 rigs in October to 854. October 2014 to October 2015 total international oil rigs were down 180 rigs or 17.41 percent but have dropped 21 percent since last July. Keep in mind this does not include Russia or any of the other FSU countries. Related: Oil Sands Still Face Pipeline Problems
The Middle East rig count has been up three months in a row. They were up 5 rigs to 305. October 2014 to October 2015 they were up only 4 rigs however.
Saudi Arabian oil rigs peaked in April at 81. Saudi gas rigs stand at 54 giving them a total of 135 rigs in the country.
Iraq is one place in the Middle East where the rig count is falling. This is likely due to the ISIS insurgency there.
Kuwaiti rigs peaked in March 2015 at 42 and have since dropped by 10 to 32. Related: Is Iran Opening A "Secret Passage" To Asia For Russian Crude?
The UAE has doubled its rig count since 2013.
Latin America lost 22 rigs in October. That took them to 272. October 2014 to October 2015 they have lost 74 rigs or 21.39 percent.
Baker Hughes uses "Latin America" instead of South and Central America. And of course Mexico is part of Latin America. Mexico's oil rigs started declining long before the price collapse. They hit 104 oil rigs in March of 2013 but are now at about one third that amount. They have had 35 oil rigs working for the last two months. Related: Only 1 Percent Of Bakken Shale Is Profitable At These Prices
Europe, since last October, has dropped 36 rigs but now seems to have leveled out at 60.
Africa hit 123 rigs in February 2014 and 118 in November 2014 but is now down to 69.
Asia Pacific oil rigs have followed the same pattern as the rest of the world, dropping about 24 percent since last fall.
Historically production has followed rig count with a delay of about one year. The worldwide rig count did not start dropping in earnest until January 2015. I would expect to see world oil production follow a similar pattern.
By Ron Patterson
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Ron Patterson is a retired computer engineer. He worked in Saudi Arabia for five years, two years at the Ghazlan Power Plant near Ras Tanura… More