US rig count continues down: new low 339

Kristen Nelson

Petroleum News

The count of rotary rigs drilling in the U.S., issued weekly by Baker Hughes since 1944, reached a new low of 339 for the week ending May 15. The May 8 count, 374, had broken the old low record of 404 set in May 2016.

The May 15 count was down 35 from the previous week and down 648 from a year ago.

The count continues a recent steep drop: down by 35, 34, 64, 73, 62, 64, 44 and 20 rigs respectively, a total of 396, over the previous eight weeks.

In its weekly rig count the Houston oilfield services company said 258 rigs targeted oil, down 34 from the previous week and down by 544 from a year ago, while 79 targeted natural gas, down one from the previous week and down 106 from a year ago. There were two miscellaneous rigs active, unchanged from the previous week and up by two from a year ago.

The company said 22 of the holes were directional, 307 were horizontal and 10 were vertical.

Rig counts were unchanged from the previous week in Alaska (3), California (5), Colorado (8), Ohio (8), Pennsylvania (23), West Virginia (7) and Wyoming (4).

The rig count in Texas, which at 150 has the most active rigs, was down by 23 from the previous week and down by 332 from a year ago.

New Mexico (66) and North Dakota (16) were each down by four rigs.

Louisiana (35) was down by three rigs and Oklahoma (12) was down by one.

Baker Hughes shows Alaska with three active rigs for the week ending May 15, down by four from a year ago.

The largest rig count drop by basin was in the Permian, which also has the most active rigs at 175. The Permian count was down 23 from the previous week and down 279 from 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. This week’s count of 339 is a new low, surpassing the 374 count last week, prior to which the previous low was 404 rigs in May 2016 at 404.

- KRISTEN NELSON