Rig Count Continues Rising
The U.S. rig count rose last week to 443 as of Feb. 17, according to Enverus Rig Analytics. The count is up 4% in the last month but still down 46% year-over-year.
The largest increase week-over-week was in the Appalachia region, where five rigs were added. Gulfport Energy Corp. is running two for the first time since February 2020 and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. is now operating four rigs, the most the company has had since May 2019. The overall Haynesville rig count is up by two week-over-week, with 45 rigs running, including three rigs that Indigo Natural Resources LLC is operating in Louisiana’s Natchitoches Parish.
According to Baker Hughes’ weekly rig count report, U.S. energy firms last week cut the number of oil rigs operating for the first time since November as blistering cold and snow hit most of Texas, New Mexico and other big energy-producing areas.
Overall, U.S. oil rigs fell by one this week, Baker Hughes said, while gas rigs rose one, their highest count since April 2020.
A severe and unanticipated deep freeze over the south knocked out power to more than 4 million people in Texas plus shut-in oil and natural gas production. Depending on the extent of damage from the frozen shutdowns, operations could be impaired for several weeks in major shale regions like the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico.
As a result, WTI crude futures in the U.S. climbed over $60/bbl this week, their highest since January 2020.
Despite the rise in oil prices, energy firms still plan to continue the cuts to their spending for a third year in a row in 2021 to keep improving earnings, rather than increasing output.
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