Rig count up 4% in the last month, 74% over the last year

The U.S. rig count increased during the last week, according to Enverus Rig Analytics. The count is up 4% in the last month and 74% in the last year. The largest week-over-week changes to the U.S. rig count occurred in the Permian Basin, which added four rigs, and the Anadarko Basin, which added three.

The last time the U.S. rig count was higher than 700 was March of 2020 before the COVID-19 shutdown. Over the first three quarters of 2021, roughly 80 rigs have been added per quarter, with the first quarter showing the strongest increase at 112 rigs. The second quarter was the weakest, adding just 51 rigs.

Compared to March 2020, the number of operators drilling wells in the U.S. has increased by 55 as of December 15 indicating greater industry participation, but at lower activity levels on average.

Although rig count is increasing, analysts note that energy firms continue to focus more on returning money to investors rather than boosting output.

WTI was trading around $71/bbl on December 17, putting the U.S. crude futures contract on track to decline for a seventh time in the past eight weeks.

But analysts have warned that the number of DUCs available was declining fast. There were only 4,855 DUCs left in the seven biggest U.S. shale basins in November, the lowest since June 2014, according to government data.

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