Counts of active oil and gas drilling rigs increased for the seventh straight week in Permian Basin and ninth straight week in Texas, according to the March 12 report from Baker Hughes. Permian Basin has 212 rigs (211 previous week), and Texas has 203 (202 previous week). Also, there are 60 rigs in New Mexico (61 previous week) and 402 rigs in U.S. (403 previous week).
- Eddy (up 2 in past week) and Lea (down 3) counties in New Mexico share the basin lead now with 30 rigs each. Midland and Reeves counties each added a rig last week for 22 each followed by Howard with 19 (up 2), Martin with 18 (down 6), Loving with 15 (down 1) and Upton with 12 (unchanged).
- S&P Global Platts said before the pandemic and oil and gas price declines in spring 2020, majors were leading rig growth in Permian Basin. “But now most of the companies returning rigs to the basin are non-majors as majors are allocating time and resources to non-Permian projects to create more balanced financial sheets. This shift has led to a much slower recovery than recent price levels would suggest.”
- Enverus said last week marked one year since WHO declared covid19 a pandemic and one year since companies began to reduce rig activity. U.S. rig count reached a low of 244 in August 2020 after starting the year with 805 rigs. Enverus said March 11 that ExxonMobil is running 57 fewer rigs than a year ago with 8 rigs. Also, ConocoPhillips is down by 21 rigs in past year to 14, Chevron is down by 19 rigs to 9. Others include Continental Resources at 6 rigs (down 14 in past year), Devon Energy at 17 (down 10) and EOG Resources at 22 (down 10). Pure-play Permian operators Pioneer shed 17 rigs in past year for a current count of 21, and Diamondback shed 9 for a count of 16.
- Louisiana remains third among states in rig count, Baker Hughes said March 12, with 45 (unchanged in past week) followed by Pennsylvania with 18, Oklahoma with 16, and North Dakota and West Virginia with 12 each. Haynesville remains runner-up among regions with 45 rigs (down 1 in past week) followed by Marcellus with 30, Eagle Ford with 29 (unchanged), Williston with 12 and Cana Woodford with 11.