Posted on 01/06/2015 4:21:52 AM PST by thackney
The number of rigs drilling for oil in the United States fell by 17 this week, as energy companies facing lower crude prices reduced the rig count for the fourth straight week, data from oil services firm Baker Hughes showed on Monday.
The oil rig count dropped to 1,482 in the week to Jan. 2, its lowest level since March, the data showed. The number of oil rigs has declined in nine of the last 12 weeks since hitting a record high of 1,609 in mid-October.
The number of rigs remains up more than 100 from the same time last year, when there were 1,378 rigs seeking oil. But analysts said the trend is down, with crude prices sliding nearly 55 percent since the summer.
In the prior week ended Dec. 26, oil rigs declined by 37, the biggest weekly drop in more than two years.
The biggest losses continue to be in the Permian Basin. For a second week in a row, drillers cut five rigs there, bringing the total down to 522, the lowest since April.
Despite the reduction in rigs, the Permian, located in West Texas and New Mexico, is still the fastest growing and largest U.S. shale play for oil.
(Excerpt) Read more at rigzone.com ...
Oil Extends Crash Into New Year As Glut Fears Deepen
http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/136610/Oil_Extends_Crash_Into_New_Year_As_Glut_Fears_Deepen/?all=HG2
The selloff in global oil markets showed little signs of slowing in the new year, with prices down as much as 6 percent on Monday, the lowest since spring 2009, as fears deepened a supply glut that has vexed the market for six months would continue.
U.S crude crashed below $50 a barrel while benchmark Brent tumbled under $53 after data showed Russian oil output at post-Soviet era highs and Iraqi oil exports near 35-year peaks.
U.S. driller ConocoPhillips added to the bearish mood by announcing it struck first oil at a Norwegian North Sea project.
The start of price fixing?
Price fixing? The oil price drops below what some areas can support for new wells and you consider that price fixing?
No, you misunderstood my question to you. News stories foisted to imply doom and gloom to the “drilling” community if the price keeps falling. These same people propagated many years ago that if we kept using oil at the rates then that by now we would be experiencing dry holes everywhere. But instead, the global consumption continues to increase while they keep finding new sources.
Your post of the gloom and doom predicted in Texas if the price keeps falling was greatly dispelled by the statistics and graphs you also posted. I have come to greatly respect your opinions on the energy sector.
You will have to show me where this article predicted doom and gloom, rather than current data and a comparison to last year.
The number of rigs remains up more than 100 from the same time last year
—— reduced the rig count for the fourth straight week-—
Exactly what does that mean?
Were rigs 17 rigs in the process of drilling removed from the field?
Were 17 rigs that completed drilling removed and not re deployed elsewhere?
The Baker Hughes Rig Count is the number of rigs actively drilling. The change from one week to the next is just rigs drilling. If they are idled, stacked, being repaired, etc, it does not know the difference.
Single week difference have little meaning, unless very large changes occur. Trends have more meaning.
For those that love data, historical and comparisons:
North America Rig Count
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=79687&p=irol-reportsother
And for those that like interactive maps of the current data:
Interactive Rig Counts
http://gis.bakerhughesdirect.com/RigCounts/default2.aspx
Some times they just need to be hauled back to the yard and repaired or they could be limited by size and can’t handle some of the deeper depths that we’re going now. Some companies may have backed off of future drilling for a while and concentrate on improving production in existing fields. The report just says they are not turning to the right it doesn’t say why.
thanks
No biggie. The drilling downturn gives them a chance to go indoors and analyze all that seismic data, downhole logs, and locate new targets for the inevitable petroleum price rebound.
Billions they can spend on other things, which put other people to work.
Billions they can use to pay down debt, which is also a good thing.
I can live with the net result just fine.
Somewhat misleading headline. The “producers” shut down the rigs but the rigs are still highly capable of producing. This is/has been pretty common practice plus, a A number of those rigs get shut down for maintenance purposes as well. Sounds like a Chicken Little story, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.