Drilling activity continued to slump across the board, though the decline appears to have slowed.
Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes said Friday its US rig count, which it has released weekly since 1944, dipped by one rig – following last week’s 15-rig plunge – to 695 rigs, the lowest level since April 2022. The count is 38 rigs below the 733 reported last June.
The number of rigs drilling for oil rose one to 556, still down 24 rigs from the 580 seeking crude oil last year. The number of rigs drilling for natural gas fell two rigs to 135, the lowest number since March 2022.
Texas recorded the steepest decline among producing states, falling six rigs to 347 – nine fewer than the 356 rigs active across the state a year earlier. New Mexico added one rig for 108. Louisiana (1), Oklahoma (1), Utah (1) and Wyoming (2) joined Texas in seeing declines while Colorado (1) was the only other producing state to see an increase.
The Permian Basin lost two rigs to see 346 rigs at work across the region, still one more than the 345 reported last year.
Eddy County, New Mexico, remains the most active county in the Permian with 55 rigs, down one. Lea County, New Mexico, is close behind with 52 rigs, up two for the week.
Martin County gained a rig to have 42 rigs while Reeves County fell one rig to 34 for the week. Midland County added two rigs to see 33 at work within county lines. Loving County had 25, down one. Ward County reported 18 rigs for a second week, Reagan County 14 rigs for a third consecutive week and Andrews County saw 13 rigs for a second week.
Enverus Foundations, part of the energy-focused Software as a Service firm Enverus, said its US rig count reached as high as 750 during the week ended June 7, down by nine from the previous week’s peak. The count is down 4%, or 33 rigs, in the last month and down 9% year over year.
Rig counts were a mixed bag in major plays. The Permian gained five rigs for a total of 336, and the Gulf Coast had a one-rig bump to 82. On the flip side, the Anadarko Basin fell by five rigs to 54, and the Appalachian Basin shed two for a total of 53. Both the DJ and Williston basins were flat at 16 and 37 rigs.
