The number of rigs drilling for oil fell by 406 year-over-year and by 37 week-over-week. The natural gas rig count declined by 11 week-over-week to a total of 289 and by 53 year-over-year.
The week-over-week decline in the oil rig count is less than half the prior week’s decline of 84. Since October 10, when the number of oil rigs working in the United States totaled 1,609, the number of oil rigs has dropped by 590 rigs, more than a third.
The two states losing the most rigs were Texas (down 22) and Oklahoma (down 16). Wyoming lost four and Alaska lost three. One rig was added in Louisiana last week and six rigs were added in New Mexico.
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In the Permian Basin of west Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the rig count dropped by six to bring the total down to 362. The Eagle Ford Basin in south Texas lost four rigs and now has 160 working, and the Williston Basin (Bakken) in North Dakota and Montana has 123 working rigs, down five from the prior week.
From a late October 2014 peak of 562 oil rigs in the Permian Basin, the oil rig count has dropped to 359. In the Williston Basin, from a peak of 198 oil rigs in early October the number of oil rigs has dropped to 122. In the Eagle Ford play, the oil rig count has dropped from a late October peak of 206 to 141.
Despite the drop in the number of oil rigs, crude oil production rose year-over-year in January in both the Eagle Ford and Bakken plays. And not by just a little — Eagle Ford production was is up 37% to 1.6 million barrels a day and Bakken production is up 28% to 1.2 million barrels a day.
The posted price for Williston Basin sweet crude had dropped from $36.44 a barrel a week ago to $33.94 on Friday, and Williston sour dipped from $27.33 a barrel to $24.83 a barrel. Eagle Ford Light crude sold for $46.75 a barrel, down from $49.25 on the previous Friday, and the same price as West Texas Intermediate (WTI).
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