Permian Basin added drilling rigs in the past week to reverse a three-week decline, but still the basin rig count declined in the past month for the first time in two years. Baker Hughes said as of Aug. 26 there were 348 rigs in Permian – up 3 in previous week, up 99 in past year. Permian started the month with 351 rigs. It was the first monthly decline of 2022 and the first since July 2020.
Also as of Aug. 26, there were 371 rigs in Texas (up 2 in past week, up 139 in past year), 106 in New Mexico (unchanged in past week, up 25 in past year) and 765 in U.S. (up 3 in past week, up 257 in past year).
Among states, Oklahoma and Louisiana each has 65 rigs, and North Dakota is fifth on Baker Hughes’ list with 37. Among regions, Eagle Ford in south Texas and Haynesville in east Texas and Louisiana each has 70 rigs, Williston has 39, and Marcellus ranks fifth with 35 rigs.
The gap between Permian’s leader and other counties widened. Lea County, N.M., added 3 rigs for a new total of 64, and Eddy, N.M., fell to 39 rigs after a decline of 3. Other basin leaders include Midland (up 2 in past week) and Martin (up 3) each with 34, Reeves up 2 to 32, Loving unchanged at 26, and Upton down 1 to 21.
