The total number of active drilling rigs in the United States rose by 2 this week after falling by 2 last week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published Friday.
The total rig count rose to 618 this week. So far this year, Baker Hughes has estimated a loss of 161 active drilling rigs. This week’s count is 457 fewer rigs than the rig count at the beginning of 2019 prior to the pandemic.
The number of oil rigs rose by 6 to 500—the highest one-week increase in 9 months. Oil rigs are now down by 121 so far in 2023. The number of gas rigs fell by 4 this week to 114, a loss of 42 active gas rigs from the start of the year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed the same.
The rig count in the Permian Basin rose by a single rig this week, and is now 38 rigs below this same time last year. The rig count in the Eagle Ford saw a one-rig drop and is now 21 fewer than this time last year.
Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing unfinished, fell again in the week ending November 10, to 268, down from 270 in the week prior. The frac spread count is 10 more than where it started the year.
At 11:55 a.m. ET on Friday, the WTI benchmark was trading up $2.33 (+3.20%) on the day at $75.23, down roughly $1.40 per barrel from this time last week. The Brent benchmark was trading up $2.58 (+3.33%) at $80.00, down $0.90 per barrel from a week ago.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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