The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States slipped again this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, following a 6-rig decrease last week.
The total rig count in the US fell by 6 to 578 rigs, according to Baker Hughes, down 25 from this same time last year.
The number of oil rigs fell by 1 to 473 after falling by 5 during the previous week—and down by 24 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs also slipped by 1 this week, to 100 for a loss of 3 active gas rigs from this time last year. The miscellaneous rig count stayed the same at 3.
The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production rose, from 13.367 million bpd to 13.387 million bpd. The figure is 244,000 bpd down from the all-time high reached during the week of December 6, 2024.
Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, fell again during the week of May 9, this time to 195, compared to 201 in the week prior.
WTI is trading up on the day, but still below what the Dallas Fed Survey says is the breakeven for Permian players, with drilling activity in the basin falling by 3 this week to 282—a figure that is 30 fewer than this same time last year. The count in the Eagle Ford stayed the same again this week, at 46. Rigs in the Eagle Ford are 5 below where they were this time last year.
At 12:29 p.m., ET, the WTI benchmark was trading up $0.93 per barrel (+1.51%) on the day at $62.55, and up $2 per barrel from last Friday’s price. The Brent benchmark was trading up $0.90 (+1.39%) on the day at $65.43— up roughly $2 per barrel from last Friday.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com