Oil, Gas Drilling Stalls in U.S.

Oil, Gas Drilling Stalls in U.S. | OilPrice.com

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell slightly this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday.

The total rig count fell by 2 this week, compared to 630 rigs this same time last year.

The number of oil rigs stayed the same this week at 488—down by 19 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs fell by 1 this week to 96, a loss of 22 active gas rigs from this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs fell by 1 rig, to 4.

Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil production fell for the week ending September 13, according to weekly estimates published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Current weekly oil production in the United States, according to the EIA, are now 200,000 beneath their all-time high at 13.2 million bpd.

Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells that are unfinished, rose in the week ending September 13, from 220 to 230, after five weeks of losses.

Drilling activity in the Permian rose by 1 this week at 306, a figure that is 10 fewer than this same time last year. The count in the Eagle Ford stayed the same this week at 48 after staying the same in the week prior. Rigs in the Eagle Ford are now 1 below where they were this time last year.

Oil prices were relatively unchanged on Friday after showing strength with rising prices overall throughout the week. At 12:49 p.m. ET, the WTI benchmark was trading up $0.17 (+0.24%) on the day at $72.12—a roughly $3 per barrel gain week over week. The Brent benchmark was trading down $0.13 (+0.17%) on the day at $74.75—a roughly $2.50 per barrel gain compared to last Friday.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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