Counts of active drilling rigs in Permian Basin, Texas, New Mexico, and U.S. all fell in the past week, according to data in the weekly report of Jan. 24 from Baker Hughes. The U.S. count dropped to 576, down 4 in the past week and 45 in the past year. That’s the lowest U.S. count since December 2021.
There were 298 rigs in Permian Basin (down 6 in the past week, down 12 in the past year), 277 in Texas (down 4 in the past week, down 27 or 9 percent from the count of 304 a year ago) and 102 in New Mexico (down 1 in the past week, up 3 in the past year). Texas posted the biggest decline of any state, and Permian Basin had the biggest decline of any region in the past week.
Oklahoma is No. 3 among states with 44 rigs (up 1 in past week, up 2 in past year) followed by North Dakota with 32 (also 32 last week and a year ago) and Louisiana with 29 (29 last week, 42 year ago). Eagle Ford in south Texas is No. 2 among regions with 45 (up 1 in past week, down 9 in past year) followed by Williston with 33 (33 last week), Haynesville with 29 (29 last week) and Marcellus with 23 (23 last week).
The rig count in Eddy County, N.M., fell by 3 to 50 in the past week, but it remains the Permian’s narrow leader. Lea added 2 rigs in the past week to reach 49 followed by Midland with 29 (unchanged), Reeves with 27 (down 1) and Martin with 26 (down 1) in the top five.