Oklahoma rig count soars
The number of rigs drilling for oil and gas in Oklahoma surged by 10 this week, marking the biggest weekly gain for the state in more than two years and more than doubling gains in any other state this week, according to numbers released Friday by Baker Hughes.
The state count increased to 111, Oklahoma’s highest rig count since April 2015 and the largest weekly gain since February 2015. The count has more than doubled from the low of 54 in February 2016 and is up 68 percent from 66 one year ago.
The count still is off 48 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, but the area saw a modest decline this week. The plays are part of the Cana Woodford basin, which dropped one rig this week to 48. Southeastern Oklahoma’s Arkoma Woodford added three natural gas rigs, boosting that basin’s count to 9.
The Cana Woodford basin is the third most active field in the country, behind the south Texas Eagle Ford, which added two rigs this week to 70.
The Permian Basin in west Texas and southeast New Mexico still is the top basin. The area gave back one rig this week to 308.
The national rig count expanded by 21 this week to 789, marking the biggest weekly gain since January 20. The count is up 313 from one year ago. Still, the count is off 59 percent from 1,929 in November 2014.
Fourteen of the net new rigs this week are drilling for oil, boosting that count to 631. The natural gas rig count added six to 157. One rig was listed as “miscellaneous.”
Texas remains the country’s most active driller, adding four rigs this week to 396. North Dakota added five rigs this week. Colorado and Utah each picked up two, while Alaska added one. Louisiana and New Mexico each gave back one rig while Wyoming’s count fell by two.
This week’s rig count gains came as oil markets shrugged two weeks of price drops fueled by increased domestic crude oil storage levels.
Domestic benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude prices gained 3 cents Friday to close the week at $48.78 a barrel, down 51 cents on the week.
Natural gas rose 5 cents to $2.95 per thousand cubic feet on Friday, down two pennies from one week ago.