The U.S. rig count rose for the first time since oil markets crashed in March, a sign that the historic oil industry downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic has hit bottom and is slowly recovering.
Energy companies operated 254 oil and gas rigs nationally, up 10 from last week, according to Baker Hughes, a Houston oil-field services company that has been tracking the rig count since the 1940s. There are 183 oil rigs, up 11 from last week, and 69 natural gas rigs, down one from last week, as well as two maintenance rigs in operation nationally.
The rig count, a leading indicator of U.S. oil and gas production, has plunged more than 60 percent since mid-March after the coronavirus pandemic decimated crude demand and forced prices to plummet as drillers paused production. The count, which bottomed out at 244 rigs last week, fell well below the bottom of the last oil bust in May 2016, when there were 404 operating rigs nationally.
Texas saw the biggest gain, adding 8 rigs to bring the state rig count to 108. Texas, home to most of the Permian Basin, hosts about half of the nation’s oil and gas rigs.
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The Permian Basin, the nation’s most productive shale play that stretched from West Texas into New Mexico, has 127 rigs in operation, up 10 rigs from last week. The Eagle Ford in South Texas has 9 rigs in operation; down two rigs from last week. The Haynesville in East Texas remained steady with 32 rigs in operation.
Many energy companies are restarting oil and gas production as crude prices have climbed above $40 a barrel. Most U.S. oil producers plan to restore nearly all of the production shut down during the oil crash by September, according to Rystad, a Norwegian energy research firm.
A few companies plan to keep some production offline as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the U.S., hampering the economic recovery. Pioneer Natural Resources, which cut 7,000 barrels per day of oil production in the second quarter, plans to only bring back 1,000 barrels per day. Apache, which curtailed 7,500 barrels per day in May, anticipates about 4,500 barrels per day of production may not come back this year.
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August 22, 2020 at 01:17AM
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U.S. rig count rises for first time since oil bust - Houston Chronicle
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