US Rig Count Falls in Strong Week for Oil
The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, after a 5-rig drop in the week prior.
The total rig count fell by four rigs, to 580, according to Baker Hughes, down 40 from this same time last year.
The number of oil rigs dipped by 2—down by 19 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs saw the same dropoff, losing 2 rigs to land at 98, a loss of 22 active gas rigs from this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed the same at 4.
The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production for the week ending January 10 dipped again, this time to 13.481 million bpd, from 13.563 million bpd in the week higher. The figure is just shy of the all-time high of 13.631 million bpd reached during the week of December 6, 2024.
Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells that are unfinished, fell during the week ending January 10, to 195—a 6-crew drop for the week.
There was no change in drilling activity in the Permian Basin, hovering at 304 active rigs—a figure that is 3 fewer than this same time last year. The count in the Eagle Ford rose by 1 rig to 44. Rigs in the Eagle Ford are now 11 below where they were this time last year.
Oil prices were trading down on Friday before the data release. At 12:07 a.m. ET, the WTI benchmark was trading down $0.36 per barrel (-0.46%) on the day at $78.32, up nearly $3 per barrel compared to last Friday’s price. The Brent benchmark was trading down $0.11 (-0.14%) on the day at $81.21—about $2.25 per barrel compared to last Friday’s price.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com