Count of active drilling rigs fell for the fourth straight week in Permian Basin, according to Baker Hughes in its weekly report of March 28. There were 297 rigs in Permian – down from 300 the previous week and down from 316 a year ago. It’s Permian’s lowest count since 294 rigs in February 2022 (highest in the interim was 361 rigs in April 2023).
Also as of March 28, there were 280 rigs in Texas (unchanged in past week, down 10 in past year), 101 in New Mexico (down 1 in past week, down 10 in past year) and 592 in U.S. (down 1 in past week, down 29 in past year).
New Mexico counties Eddy (down 1 to 51) and Lea (47) remain the Permian leaders. Others include Midland with 28 (up 1), Martin with 26 (down 2), Reeves with 22 and Loving with 20 (up 1). Also, there were 15 rigs in Upton, 12 each in Reagan (down 1) and Ward, and 10 each in Howard and Winkler (up 1).
Other most active regions were Eagle Ford in south Texas with 48 rigs (48 week ago, 55 year ago), Williston with 33 (33 week ago, 34 year ago), Haynesville with 30 (29 week ago, 36 year ago) and Marcellus with 23 (24 week ago, 30 year ago). Other most active states were Oklahoma with 53 (53 week ago, 44 year ago), North Dakota with 32 (32 week ago, 32 year ago) and Louisiana with 30 (30 week ago, 41 year ago).