BHI: US rig count falls for 8th straight week, down 43 units

The US drilling rig count fell 43 units to settle at 1,633 rigs working during the week ended Jan. 23, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

That total is the lowest since Aug. 6, 2010, and 144 units fewer compared with this week a year ago. The count has now fallen in 8 consecutive weeks, losing 287 units during that time (OGJ Online, Dec. 5, 2014).

Forty-two of the 43 units that went offline this week were land-based, bringing that total to 1,568. Land rigs have plunged 176 units over the last 3 weeks. The other unit to fall was drilling in inland waters, bringing that total to 11. Offshore rigs were unchanged at 54.

Oil rigs plunged 49 units to 1,317. Gas rigs gained 6 units to 316.

Horizontal drilling rigs lost 24 units to 1,229. Consultancy group Wood Mackenzie Ltd. recently said that, if oil prices average about $50/bbl in 2015, it anticipates a 40% decline in the horizontal rig count compared with last year.

Directional rigs, meanwhile, lost 7 units to 146.

Canada’s rig count dropped 8 units to 432, 144 fewer than this week a year ago. Oils rigs dropped 11 units to 223 while gas rigs gained 3 units to 209.

Major states, basins

Following the usual pattern during the rig count decline over the 2 months, Texas and North Dakota reported the most losses in the major oil- and gas-producing states.

A 13-unit drop in Texas brought its total to 753. The Permian lost 6 units to 481 and the Eagle Ford lost 4 units to 181.

In North Dakota, 9 units went offline to shave its total to 147. The Williston reported the most losses of the major US basins, falling 12 units to 153.

Oklahoma declined 8 units to 193. Ohio declined 4 units to 44. New Mexico and California each fell 3 units to 89 and 15, respectively. For California, 15 is its lowest total since May 2003. The state had 45 units on Dec. 19.

Utah was down 2 units to 15. Wyoming, West Virginia, and Kansas each edged down a unit to 46, 25, and 23, respectively.

Colorado and Alaska were unchanged from a week ago at 64 and 11, respectively.

Arkansas edged up a unit to 12. Pennsylvania was up 2 units to 53. Louisiana led the states with a 3-unit rise to 110.