Hart Energy Unconventional Activity Tracker (Week of Sept. 7, 2021)

Rig count rises by six rigs, but Louisiana drops due to Hurricane Ida

The number of rigs running in the U.S. rose by six in the past week. The biggest increase last week was in the Anadarko Basin with the addition of five rigs. Over the week, both the Anadarko and Williston basins hit daily 2021 highs.

The most notable drop in the past week, however, was onshore Louisiana, which dropped from 49 to 35 rigs due to Hurricane Ida. Offshore platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico also were evacuated as Ida advanced toward the offshore fields that provide 17% of the nation’s oil production and about 5% of dry natural gas output.

The rig count is up 2% month-over-month and up 115% year-over-year. The Williston Basin add five rigs over the past month.

For the month, drillers added 20 oil and gas rigs, putting the count up for 13 months in a row for the first time since July 2017. In August alone, drillers added 25 oil rigs, the most in a month since January, putting the oil rig count up for 12 consecutive months for the first time since July 2017. The gas rig count, however, declined by six, its first monthly decline since October 2020.

U.S. crude futures gained over 10% this week to about $69/bbl on Aug. 27, putting the contract on track for its biggest weekly gain since June 2020 ahead of the storm.

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