U. S. Rig Count Drops | Russell T. Rudy Energy LLC
The drop in oil prices is taking its toll on the number of rigs drilling for oil and gas. According to a recent article in “Rigzone”, Baker Hughes announced that last week the oil rig count dropped to 1,536, the lowest since May. There has been a fairly steady decline since the record high of 1,609 set in mid- October.
Some industry observers caution reading too much into the drop in rig count pointing out that it is still 100 over where it was a year ago. Nevertheless, the decrease is pervasive with the Permian Basin (primarily in West Texas) and the Bakken shale area (primarily in North Dakota) both showing significant decreases. Both horizontal and vertical oil rig counts are down, and there has been a slight decrease in the number of gas rigs running.
At any rate, it seems unmistakable that operators will be cutting back significantly on capital spending in 2015.
To read the article in its entirety, please go to www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/136463/Baker .
