The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, following a 1 rig dip in the prior week.
The total rig count in the US fell by 2 to 590 rigs, according to Baker Hughes, down 30 from this same time last year.
The number of oil rigs rose by 5 to 489—down by 19 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs fell by 7 this week to 96 for a loss of 14 active gas rigs from this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs were unchanged at 5.
The latest EIA data showed that weekly U.S. crude oil production rose slightly, rising from 13.574 million bpd to 13.580 million bpd. The figure is just 51,000 bpd shy of the all-time high reached during the week of December 6, 2024.
Primary Vision’s Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells, fell during the week of March 28 to 209, compared to 215 in the week prior, and up from 201 at the beginning of the year.
With WTI now trading at a level that’s uncomfortably below what the Dallas Fed Survey says is the breakeven for Permian players, drilling activity in the basin slid by 3, falling to 294 in the country’s most proflic basin—a figure that is 23 fewer than this same time last year. The count in the Eagle Ford held steady at 48. Rigs in the Eagle Ford are 8 below where they were this time last year.
With President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs and OPEC+’s plan to ramp up oil production beginning in May at a rate that is significantly more than anticipated, oil prices were trading down sharply before the Baker Hughes data release. At 12:34 p.m., ET, the WTI benchmark was trading down $5.15 per barrel (-7.69%) on the day at $61.80, which is a $7.44 per barrel slide from last Friday’s price. The Brent benchmark was trading down $4.79 (-6.83%) on the day at $65.35—a $8.11 per barrel decrease from last Friday.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com