The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States came crashing down 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 10 to 566 rigs, according to Baker Hughes, down 34 from this same time last year.
The number of oil rigs fell by 8 to 465 after falling by 1 during the previous week—and down by 32 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs slipped by 2 this week, to 98 for a loss of 1 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 13.387 million bpd to 13.392 million bpd. The figure is 239,000 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 16, this time to 193, compared to 195 in the week prior. The count is now 22 below where it was on March 21.
WTI is trading up on the day, but still well below what the Dallas Fed Survey says is the breakeven for Permian players, with drilling activity in the basin falling by 3 for a second week in a row, to 279—a figure that is 33 fewer than this same time last year. The count in the Eagle Ford fell by 4, to 42 active rigs. Rigs in the Eagle Ford are 8 below where they were this time last year.
At 12:30 p.m., ET, the WTI benchmark was trading up $0.20 per barrel (+0.33%) on the day at $61.40, and down more than $1 per barrel from last Friday’s price. The Brent benchmark was trading up $0.19 (+0.29%) on the day at $64.63— down roughly $0.80 per barrel from last Friday.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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