U.S. rig count drops 48; Louisiana down 5
Ahead of the rig-count data on Friday, crude oil prices were a bit lower, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures in NY down 1% and near $31.38 per barrel. The total USA oil and gas rig count slid 48 rigs from the week prior to 571.
Plummeting rig counts have yet to translate into significant cutbacks in oil production, although the sharp increase in output exhibited between 2011 and 2014 came to a screeching halt previous year. USA upstream player Hess Corp. last week said it was cutting planned spending for exploration and production for the year by 20 percent to $2.4 billion.
Almost twice as many US oil-directed rigs were lost (31) as gas-directed rigs (17). But in the current count it dropped 19 rigs, six more than in the previous week. Twenty-nine of the USA departures were horizontal units, while 14 verticals were lost, joined by five directionals.
The Permian Basin still accounts for the bulk of the active drilling rigs, with 180 as of this week. Still, the Permian had well over 500 rigs a little over a year ago.
Unlike the United States, Canada added 11 rigs in the latest count to end at 242.