Oil Rig Count Drops as Oil Prices See Strongest Weekly Gain Since 2022

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.

The total rig count fell by 2 this week to 585, compared to 619 rigs this same time last year.

The number of oil rigs fell by 5 this week to 479—down by 18 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs rose by 3 this week to 102, a loss of 16 active gas rigs from this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed the same at 4.

Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil production rose in the week ending September 27, according to weekly estimates published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Current weekly oil production in the United States, according to the EIA, sits at  100,000 beneath their all-time high, at 13.3 million bpd.

Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells that are unfinished, rose in the week ending September 27, from 236 to 238, fairly even with the count at the beginning of this year.

Drilling activity in the Permian dipped by 2 this week to 304—a figure that is just 5 fewer than this same time last year. The count in the Eagle Ford stayed the same this week at 48 after staying the same in the two weeks prior. Rigs in the Eagle Ford are now 2 below where they were this time last year.

Oil prices were trading up on Friday following fear of an Israeli reprisal for Iran’s ballistic missile bombardment earlier this week. At 12:48 p.m. ET, the WTI benchmark was trading up $1.19 (+1.61%) on the day at $74.90, a roughly $6.50 per barrel gain from this time last week. The Brent benchmark was trading up $1.06 (+1.37%) on the day at $78.63—a nearly $7 per barrel increase over last Friday’s price.