Crash in Oil and Natural Gas Rig Count Pushes US Rigs Further Down (Part 2 of 10)
(Continued from Part 1)
Oil rig counts at lowest level since March 2011
Oilfield service company Baker Hughes’s (BHI) US crude oil rig count decreased by 56 last week, down from 922 to 866. The number of oil rigs is now at its lowest level since March 2011.
The steepest decline in oil rigs since 1990 occurred on January 30, 2015, when the oil rig count decreased by 94.
The latest figures mark the 14th consecutive weekly fall in crude oil rig counts. In those 14 weeks, the crude oil rig count has crashed by 680.
The Permian Basin was most affected, with a crude oil rig count that decreased by 23 in the past week. In the “other basins” category, there were 19 fewer active oil rigs. Other rigs are those in smaller basins or those that don’t fall within a specific geographic basin.
The oil rig count has fallen by 743, or 46%, since hitting a high not that long ago. The rig count was 1,609 on October 10, 2014, the highest since January 2005.
Producers at risk
Oil producers such as Whiting Petroleum (WLL), Hess Corporation (HES), Concho Resources (CXO), and Occidental Petroleum (OXY) are vulnerable to oil price drops. WLL and CXO together account for 2.7% of the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP). With oil prices continuing to dip, these companies are taking a hit, as revenues are closely tied to crude oil prices. For more on the relationship between crude oil prices and rigs, please read part nine of this series.
To explore the latest crude oil price movements, please refer to Crude Prices Remain Volatile as the US Keeps Pumping More Oil.
One-year oil rig count comparison
In the last year, the number of oil rigs in operation was down by 595, or ~41%. In comparison, the numbers grew by 120 during the corresponding period last year. Activity in the oil-rich Permian Basin in West Texas drove most of the increase in 2014. Please refer to part four of this series for more information on Permian rigs.
Continue to Part 3
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