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US rig count drops again; 244 a new low
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The Baker Hughes U.S. rotary rig count dropped again the week ending Aug. 14, setting a new record low of 244 active rigs, down three from the previous week and down 691 from a year ago.
The Houston oilfield services company has issued a weekly rig count since 1944.
Prior to this year, the low was 404 rigs in May 2016.
New record lows were set for 12 consecutive weeks beginning May 8 when the count dropped to 374 rigs. The count dropped each week through July 24, when it hit 251, staying at 251 for the week ending July 31, before dropping again Aug. 7.
Rigs targeting oil, at 172, were down four from the previous week and down 598 from 770 a year ago. Seventy rigs targeted gas, up one from the previous week and down 95 from 165 a year ago. Two rigs were listed as miscellaneous, unchanged from last week and up two from a year ago.
Twenty-four of the holes were directional, 207 were horizontal and 13 were vertical.
Alaska count unchanged The rig count in Louisiana (31) was up two from the previous week.
Rig counts were unchanged for Alaska (3), California (4), Colorado (5), North Dakota (11), Ohio (6), Oklahoma (11), Pennsylvania (20), West Virginia (5) and Wyoming (1).
New Mexico (45) was down by one rig from the previous week and Texas, with the most active rigs at 100, was down by four.
Baker Hughes shows Alaska with three active rigs Aug. 14, unchanged from the previous week and down by seven from a year ago.
The rig count in the nation’s most active basin, the Permian (117), was down by five rigs from the previous week, and down by 324 from a count of 441 a year ago.
Baker Hughes has issued weekly rig counts for the U.S. and Canada since 1944 and began issuing international rig counts in 1975.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. The count for this week, 244, is a new low. Prior to declines which began in May of this year, the previous low was 404 rigs in May 2016.
- KRISTEN NELSON
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