Rig Count Stabilizes Amid Oil Price Recovery
The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose this week following the recent price slide, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Thursday, following a large 7-rig dip in the prior week.
The total rig count in the US rose by 2 to 585 rigs, according to Baker Hughes, down 34 from this same time last year.
The number of oil rigs rose by 1 to 481—down by 30 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs also rose by 1 this week, to 98 for a loss of 8 active gas rigs from this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed the same at 6.
The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production rose slightly, rising from 13.458 million bpd to 13.462 million bpd. The figure is 169,000 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 sharply during the week of April 11 to 195, compared to 205 in the week prior—down 6 from the beginning of the year.
WTI is trading up on the day, but still slightly below what the Dallas Fed Survey says is the breakeven for Permian players, with drilling activity in the basin holding fast at 289—a figure that is 29 fewer than this same time last year. The count in the Eagle Ford also stayed the same this week, at 47. Rigs in the Eagle Ford are 8 below where they were this time last year.
At 1:33 p.m., ET, the WTI benchmark was trading up $1.96 per barrel (+3.14%) on the day at $64.43, up nearly $4 per barrel from last Friday’s price. The Brent benchmark was trading up $1.86 (+2.82%) on the day at $67.71—also up nearly $4 per barrel from last Friday.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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