Oklahoma rig count tops 100

Oklahoma led the country in new drilling rigs this week as oil and natural gas activity continued to surge in the state's hottest oil fields.

Six new drilling rigs became active in the state this week, pushing Oklahoma's total to 102, the highest point since September 2015.

The state count has nearly doubled from the low of 54 in February 2016 and is up 22 from one year ago. The count still is off 52 percent from 214 in November 2014, soon after oil prices peaked.

Central Oklahoma's STACK and SCOOP fields are among the areas in the country where drilling activity has picked up fastest. The plays are part of the Cana Woodford basin, which gained seven rigs this week to 56. The basin now is tied with the south Texas Eagle Ford as the secondmost active oil field in the country with 56 rigs.

The Permian Basin in west Texas and southeast New Mexico still is the top basin. The area added four rigs this week to 295.

The national rig count expanded by 17 this week to 729. The count is up 325 from the more than 60-year low set in February and up 158 from one year ago. Still, the count is off 62 percent from 1,929 in November 2014.

All the net new rigs this week are drilling for oil, boosting that count to 583. The natural gas rig count was unchanged at 145, and one rig is considered

“miscellaneous.”

Texas picked up four rigs this week, boosting its count to 355. New Mexico also added four while Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, and Wyoming each gained one. Louisiana dropped one rig this week.

The nationwide rig count has increased steadily over the past few months as commodity prices have strengthened, in part because of declining production.

Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have agreed to cut the cartel’s production by 1.2 million barrels a day to about 32.5 million barrels a day, but many domestic producers have indicated plans to increase drilling this year.

Domestic benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude gained 29 cents Friday to close at $53.83 a barrel, up 66 cents on the week. Natural gas futures slipped 12 cents Friday to $3.06 per thousand cubic feet, down 33 cents this week.