This week, the Baker Hughes US Land Rig Count was up 2 rigs to finish at 442 active rigs. The Permian and the MidCon each added 2 rigs, and the Eagle Ford added 1 rig. The Northeast lost 2 rigs and the DJ dropped 1 rig.
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| Figure 1: Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count - May 28 2021 (Source Baker Hughes) |
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| Table 1: Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count - May 28 2021 (Source: Baker Hughes) |
This week, the Baker Hughes Rig count was up 3 rigs to finish to 440 active rigs for the week. The MidCon added 4 rigs while the ArkLaTex region lost 1 rig.
While the rig count increased again this week, the rig count in most areas remained flat. The Permian rig count has been flat for the last 7 weeks, only increasing by 7 rigs since April 1st. Based on the information from the earnings reports and the field, the majors are locked in to return profits to customers and paying off debt. The independent producers have increased rig count quickly but may have reached their capacity for new activity. I expect the rig count should reach a plateau over the summer and then increasing again toward the end of the year.
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| Figure 1: Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count - May 21 2021 (Source: Baker Hiughes) |
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| Table 1: Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count by State - May 21 2021 (Source: Baker Hughes) |
This week, the Baker Hughes US Land Rig Count was up 3 rigs to finish at 434 active rigs. The Permian added 2 rigs and the Bakken and MidCon each added 1 rig. The ArkLaTex region dropped 2 rigs this week.
We continue to see mergers happen between companies in all basins, capturing the efficiency and leverage of large acreage positions. In smaller basins like the DJ and the Marcellus, there could be 3 or 4 major players in the basin. This lack of diversity could have an impact on the number of available service companies in the area. Large operators tend to use larger service companies, capable of supplying multiple services under one name.
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| Figure 1: Baker Hughes Weekly US Land Rig Count - May 14 2021 (Source: Baker Hughes) |
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| Table 1: Baker Hughes Weekly US Land Rig Count by State - May 14 2021 (Source: Baker Hughes) |
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| Figure 1: Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count - April 30 2021 (Source: Baker Hughes) |
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| Table 1: Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count by Region - April 303 2021 (Source: Baker Hughes) |
This the Baker Hughes US Land Rig Count was the same as last week to finish at 426 active rigs. The Permian lost 1 rig (two losses in Texas and one addition in New Mexico) and the Southeast added 1 rig in Mississippi.
While rig count may be flat this week, there are no indications that rig count is going to stop increasing. The private operators are driving the increases in rig count. While publicly traded companies are focused on reducing debt and returning profits to shareholders, private companies are working on increasing production rates in order to take advantage of higher oil prices.
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| Figure 1: Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count - April 23 2021 (Source: Baker Hughes) |
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| Table 1: Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count by State - April 23 2021 (Source: April 23 2021) |
This week, the Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count increased by 5 rigs to finish at 426 active rigs. The Permian added 3 rigs, the Midcon added 2 rigs and the Bakken added 1 rig. The Northeast lost 1 rig this week.
In a recent World Oil article (click here for the article), they stated that the glut of oil stockpiled during the pandemic was nearly gone. I haven't seen many discussions about this issue recently and this paves the way for increased oil prices for producers. OPEC+ will continue to control the amount of oil that can be brought into the market. The US market is unable to respond until the industry covers financially.
The article also discusses that consumers are beginning to feel the prices at the pumps. I have personally heard people complain about high prices and are eager to blame politicians. This is another example of how the majority of the population doesn't understand the oil industry. Historically low gasoline prices means that record numbers of oil and gas employees are laid off. The US industry was demolished during the pandemic and needs higher prices to survive, grow production and explore for new oil. Without exploration and production growth, a true oil shortage will appear and the spike oil prices will have a real impact on everyone.
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Figure 1: Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Report - April 16 2021 (Source: Baker Hughes) |
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| Table 1: Baker Hughes US Land Rig Report by Area - April 16 2021 (Source: Baker Hughes) |
This week, the Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Report increased by 5 rigs to finish at 421 active rigs. The ArkLaTex added 2 rigs, the Northeast and MidCon both added 1 rig. Two rigs were added in Utah and one rig was lost in the Powder River Basin.
There have been multiple reports over the last couple of weeks that the DUC count continues to drop. The current rig count will not be enough to build DUCs or increase oil production. I saw report this week that US Production will drop in 2021 compared to previous years. This drop will be made up by OPEC+ as demand returns. While the rig count continues to move in the right direction, it will take some time for US Oil production to reach a plateau.
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| Figure 1: Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count - April 9 2021 |
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| Table 1: Baker Hughes US Land Weekly Rig Count - April 9 2021 |
