Rig count, oil prices continue to rise
The U.S. rig count rose by 10 in the last week, according to Enverus Rig Analytics, marking the eighth week in a row energy firms in the U.S. have added oil and natural gas rigs.
Overall, the rig count is down less than 1% in the last month and down 50% year-over-year.
The eight weeks of additions were the most since November when the rig count climbed for nine weeks in a row. Despite gains in recent months, the count was still 423 rigs, or 53%, below this time last year. Week-over-week, the basins adding the most rigs were Appalachia (three) and the Permian (two). In the Gulf Coast’s Haynesville play, the monthly average has also increased every month since June.
In the Appalachian Basin, Southwestern Energy Co. and Chesapeake Energy Corp. are the most active operators. As for the Permian Basin, EOG Resources Inc. alone has added 10 rigs in the basin since the end of August, with 12 of them running in New Mexico’s Lea County. Eleven of the EOG rigs in the Permian Basin were on federal leases.
WTI, crude futures in the U.S., climbed to almost $54/bbl this week—their highest since February 2020. The higher prices have already encouraged energy firms to drill much more since the total rig count plunged to a record low of 244 in August 2020, according to Baker Hughes data going back to 1940.
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