The total number of active drilling rigs in the United States fell by 4 this week, after falling 7 last week, according to new data from Baker Hughes published Friday.
The total rig count fell to 619 this week. So far this year, Baker Hughes has estimated a loss of 160 active drilling rigs. This week’s count is 456 fewer rigs than the rig count at the beginning of 2019 prior to the pandemic.
The number of oil rigs fell by 5 for the second week in a row to 497, down by 124 so far in 2023. The number of gas rigs rose by 2 this week to 118, a loss of 38 active gas rigs from the start of the year. Miscellaneous rigs fell by 1.
The rig count in the Permian Basin fell by 3 this week, and is now 36 rigs below this same time last year. The rig count in the Eagle Ford rose by 1 and is 22 fewer than this time last year.
Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing unfinished, fell again in the week ending September 29, to 255, down from 259 in the week prior. The frac spread count is 3 fewer than where it started the year.
Crude oil production levels in the United States stayed at 12.9 million bpd for week ending September 29, according to the latest weekly EIA estimates—still sitting at the highest production level since 2019. U.S. production levels are now up 900,000 bpd versus a year ago.
At 12:09 a.m. ET on Friday, the WTI benchmark was trading up $0.64 (+0.78%) on the day at $82.95—down $8 per barrel from this time last week. The Brent benchmark was trading up $0.61 (+0.73%) at $84.68 per barrel on the day—down roughly $11 per barrel from a week ago.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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