The total number of active drilling rigs in the United States rose by 1 this week, according to new data from Baker Hughes published Friday.
The total rig count rebounded to 632 this week. So far this year, Baker Hughes has estimated a loss of 147 active drilling rigs. This week’s count is 443 fewer rigs than the rig count at the beginning of 2019 prior to the pandemic.
The number of oil rigs rose by 1 this week to 513, down by 108 so far in 2023. The number of gas rigs fell by 1 again this week to 113, a loss of 43 active gas rigs from the start of the year. Miscellaneous rigs rose by 1 this week.
The rig count in the Permian Basin rose by 1 this week—20 rigs below this same time last year. The rig count in the Eagle Ford fell by 1, and is now 22 fewer than this time last year.
Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing unfinished wells (which is cheaper than drilling new wells), fell for a third week in a row for week ending September 1, to 244, down from 246 in the week prior. The frac spread count is 12 fewer than where it started the year.
Crude oil production levels in the United States stayed the same this week, at 12.8 million bpd in the week ending September 1, according to the latest weekly EIA estimates—sitting at the highest production level since 2019. U.S. production levels are now up 700,000 bpd versus a year ago.
At 12:39 p.m. ET on Friday, the WTI benchmark was trading up $0.86 (+0.99%) on the day at $87.73—up roughly $2.40 per barrel from this time last week after Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to extend their production cut targets to the end of the year. The Brent benchmark was trading up $0.91 (+1.01%) at $90.83 per barrel on the day—up roughly $2.50 per barrel from a week ago.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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