U.S. Oil, Gas Rig Count Creeps Up With Strong Prices

Baker Hughes reported on Friday that the total number of active U.S. drilling rigs rose to 595 for the latest reporting week, a jump of 53 rigs compared with the same week a year earlier. The weekly increase included a two-rig rise in oil-directed activity to 452 rigs and a two-rig gain in gas-directed rigs to 134, while miscellaneous rigs held steady at nine.

U.S. crude production per the Energy Information Administration showed a slight weekly decline: average output for the week ending Sept. 11 was 13.944 million barrels per day, down marginally from 13.947 million bpd the prior week but up 462,000 bpd from a year earlier. The small week-over-week production dip came amid the modest uptick in drilling activity.

Completion activity also registered an improvement. Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, which estimates the number of crews completing wells, reversed a four-week decline for the week ending Sept. 11 by adding six crews to reach 184 — recovering from its lowest level since May.

Regionally, the Permian Basin saw its rig count rise by one to 269 rigs, leaving it 15 rigs higher than a year ago. The Eagle Ford play held steady at 51 rigs, which is nine more than at the same point last year. Oil markets were trading lower ahead of the data release, with Brent around $103.60 per barrel (down about 1.16%) and WTI near $100.67 per barrel (down about 1.22%).