Hart Energy Unconventional Activity Tracker (Week of June 8, 2020)

Enverus: total rig count down 9 from last week

Nearly 2,000 rigs were running in the U.S. at the end of 2014, right before market conditions during the previous downturn began impacting rigs levels. According to Enverus, it would take until the end of April 2016 for the industry to stop shedding rigs, with numbers settling around 420.

While the total active rig count never went back over 1,200, efficiency gains allowed production levels to grow to record highs—oil volumes reached 13.1 million bbl/d in late February, while dry gas volumes averaged 95.8 Bcf/d in December. Production volume declines have now occurred on both fronts amid the current weak price environment.

U.S. oil output was 11.4 million bbl/d as of May 22, accord to weekly production data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The most recent EIA data on natural gas output estimated dry gas volumes at 94.1 Bcf/d.

Since the beginning of 2020, the number of active rigs in the U.S. has fallen by more than 500. By the end of May, rig declines have started to slow, and operator commentary suggests that the bottom will likely be found before the end of the second quarter.

The most noticeable losses in rigs within a one-month period between May 1 and June 5 are:

• North Dakota (from 26 to 12);
• Texas District 8 (from 138 to 74); and
• Texas District 1 (from 13 to 3).

On the bright side, West Virginia picked up one rig (from 7 to 8) during the same period and Ohio, which had 8 rigs on May 8-29, picked up one rig this week (9 total).

Weekly:

Trends: