The total number of active drilling rigs in the United States rose by 3 this week after falling 4 last week, according to new data from Baker Hughes published Friday.
The total rig count rose to 622 this week. So far this year, Baker Hughes has estimated a loss of 157 active drilling rigs. This week’s count is 453 fewer rigs than the rig count at the beginning of 2019 prior to the pandemic.
The number of oil rigs rose by 4 to 501, down by 120 so far in 2023. The number of gas rigs fell by 1 this week to 117, a loss of 39 active gas rigs from the start of the year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed the same.
The rig count in the Permian Basin rose by 2 this week, and is now 35 rigs below this same time last year. The rig count in the Eagle Ford rose by 1 for the second week in a row and is 20 fewer than this time last year.
Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing unfinished, rose in the week ending October 6, to 260, up from 255 in the week prior. The frac spread count is 2 more than where it started the year.
Crude oil production levels in the United States rose to 13.2 million bpd for week ending October 6, according to the latest weekly EIA estimates, reaching the highest production level in the United States ever. U.S. production levels are now up 1.2 million bpd, according to estimated weekly figures.
At 12:26 p.m. ET on Friday, the WTI benchmark was trading up $3.53 (+4.26%) on the day at $86.44—up nearly $4 per barrel from this time last week. The Brent benchmark was trading up $3.65 (+4.24%) at $89.65 per barrel on the day—up $5 per barrel from a week ago.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
ADVERTISEMENT
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
- Oil Prices Rally As The U.S. Enforces Sanctions On Russian Exports
- U.S. Sanctions Two Tanker Owners For Breaching The Russian Oil Price Cap
- Putin Says OPEC+ Output Cuts ‘Likely’ To Continue Into 2024
