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, bringing the total rig count in the US to 543, down 49 from this same time last year.
The number of active oil rigs fell by 5 to 409 during the latest reporting period, according to the data. This is 75 below this same time last year. The number of gas rigs fell by 4, sinking to 127, which is 24 more than this time last year. The miscellaneous rig count stayed the same at 7.
The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production fell for the fifth week in a row during week ending March 20. US crude oil production averaged 13.657 million bpd during the reporting period—a 11,000 bpd dip from the week prior, and 205,000 bpd under the all-time high.
Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, fell during the week ending March 20 by 8 after gaining 2 crews in the week prior.
The number of active drilling rigs in the Permian Basin fell by 2, reaching 241, which is 56 rigs under year-ago levels. The count in the Eagle Ford stayed the same at 42, which is 6 fewer than this same time last year.
Oil prices remain elevated amid the conflict in the Middle East, with tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz still effectively stalled. Brent crude is currently trading $111.80 (+3.39%) per barrel, while WTI is holding above $98, with some analysts warning that $200 oil is on the table should tanker traffic in the Strait continue to be disrupted for a protracted amount of time.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
