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.
The total rig count in the US fell by 2 rigs for the second week in a row, landing at 540, according to Baker Hughes, down 46 from this same time last year.
The number of oil rigs fell by 5 to 410, down by 72 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs rose by 2 this week, coming in at 124 for a gain of 26 active gas rigs from this time last year. The miscellaneous rig count also gained a rig, for a total of 6.
The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production rose in the week ending July 25, from 13.273 million bpd to 13.314 million bpd, breaking four consecutive weeks of falling production.
Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, fell by 6 during the week of July 25, to 168. It is the fewest number of active frac crews since 2021. The count is now 47 below where it was on March 21.
Drilling activity in the Permian basin saw another loss this week, losing 1 rig. The Permian now has 259 rigs—a figure that is 44 fewer than this same time last year. The count in the Eagle Ford saw stayed the same at 39 rigs, which is 11 fewer than this time last year.
At 12:47 p.m., ET, the WTI benchmark was trading down $2.10 per barrel (-3.03%) on the day at $67.16—nearly $2 per barrel above last week’s levels. The Brent benchmark was trading down $2.21 (-3.08%) on the day at $69.49.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
Back to homepage