The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday as operators continue to scale back activity amid weak prices and cautious capital spending.
The total rig count in the US fell by 2 rigs to 542, according to Baker Hughes, down 47 from this same time last year.
The number of oil rigs fell by 7 to 415, down by 67 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs rose by 5 this week, at 122 for a gain of 21 active gas rigs from this time last year. The miscellaneous rig count stayed the same at 5.
The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production dipped for the fourth week in a row in the week ending July 18, from 13.375 million bpd to 13.273 million bpd. It is the lowest weekly production figure since January.
Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, fell by 6 during the week of July 18, to 174. It is the fewest number of active frac crews in four years. The count is now 41 below where it was on March 21.
Drilling activity in the Permian basin saw further retreat, losing 3 rigs. The Permian now has 260 rigs—a figure that is 44 fewer than this same time last year. The count in the Eagle Ford saw a decline in activity of 2 rigs, which is 11 fewer than this time last year.
At 11:57 a.m., ET, the WTI benchmark was trading down $0.72 per barrel (-1.09%) on the day at $65.31–$2 per barrel below last week’s levels. The Brent benchmark was trading down $0.61 (-0.88%) on the day at $68.57 as traders focused more on macro gloom and potential geopolitical re-entries than on slipping U.S. production, brushing off clear signs that shale momentum is fading—even as OPEC+ appears set to hold its supply plan steady.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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