Rig count increases in Oklahoma, nationwide
The number of rigs drilling for oil and natural gas increased in Oklahoma and nationwide this week as oil prices gained ground and companies began announcing their second-quarter results.
Oklahoma gained three rigs this week, boosting the state count to 134, up 123 percent from 60 one year ago, according to Baker Hughes.
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 added four rigs this week to 63. The basin had 29 active rigs one year ago.
The Cana Woodford is the third most-active field in the country, behind the south Texas Eagle Ford, which declined by two rigs this week to 76, and the Permian Basin in west Texas and southeast New Mexico, which gained five rigs to 379.
Nationwide, the rig count increased by eight this week to 958, which is up 107 percent from 463 one year ago. The number of rigs drilling for oil increased by two this week to 766, while the natural gas rig count added six to 192.
Texas remained the country’s most active driller despite giving back one rig this week to 462. New Mexico gained four rigs this week while Louisiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Wyoming each added one.
This week’s increase followed after a decline of two last week, just the second weekly decline since Jan. 13. This week also has been marked by second-quarter earnings reports from some of the industry’s largest companies.
Drilling budgets, plans
Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum this week said it is cutting its 2017 drilling budget by $300 million because of lower-than-expected commodity prices and growing concerns of overproduction.
Chevron and Exxon Mobil, however, said Friday they plan to increase drilling, especially in the Permian Basin. Chevron said it plans to add a new rig in the Permian every eight to 10 weeks and will
have 20 in the play by the end of 2018. Exxon said it will add three rigs in
the Permian by the end of August, boosting its count in the field to 19.
Oklahoma City companies Devon Energy Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp. and SandRidge Energy Inc. are scheduled to release their second-quarter earnings next week.
Friday’s stronger rig count report continues a string of good news for the oil and natural gas industry this week. After seeing oil prices slip steadily throughout the first half of the year, prices had strong gains this week following an announcement Tuesday that Saudi Arabia pledged to further cut production and after the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Thursday reported a largerthan-expected decline in U.S. domestic storage levels.
Domestic benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude gained 67 cents Friday to close at $49.71 a barrel, up $3.94 or 8.6 percent this week. The benchmark natural gas price slipped 3 cents Friday to $2.94 per thousand cubic feet, down from $2.97 one week ago.