Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count - March 26 2021

The US Land Rig Count continues to climb as the Baker Hughes Rig Count showed 405 active rigs this week, up 7 rigs from last week. The Permian added 5 rigs while the Bakken added one rig and the Rockies added one rig.

Since the spike in gas prices due to the winter storm in February, gas prices have continued to fall, matching pricing that was seen in early January 2021 and October 2020. With winter behind us (hopefully) gas prices will continue to fall as the seasonal demand drops and the focus turns to refilling gas storage. 

Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count - March 26 2021
(Source: Baker Hughes)

Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count by State - March 26, 2021
(Source: Baker Hughes)

Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Report - Mar 5 2021

This week, the Baker Hughes US Land Rig report rose 4 rigs to finish at 389 active rigs. The Permian gained 3 rigs and the ArkLaTex and MidCon each gained 1 rig. The Bakken lost 1 rig this week.

After a crazy week of cold weather and very high gas prices, gas prices returned to their normal level below $3/mcf. Oil prices increased this week as OPEC+ announced that they would not be increasing production, which was a surprise to nearly everyone. This should help the industry continue to work through surplus oil that's in the market and maintain prices for profitable drilling. I don't expect a large increase in US based rigs as the capital still is not available for increased drilling programs.

Figure 1: Baker Hughes US Land Rig Count - Mar 5 2021
(Source: Baker Hughes)

Table 1: Baker Hughes US Land Rig Count by State - Mar 5 2021
(Source: Baker Hughes)