Rig counts plunge again in Oklahoma and across the U.S.

Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry took another big hit in terms of the state’s rig count in the past week as the number of active rigs slid to 54.  The count dropped by six over the past week according to figures from Baker Hughes Co.

One year ago, there were 141 active oil and gas rigs reported in Oklahoma. Since then, the count has plummeted by 87 as more of those rigs are in “cold storage.”

Nationally, the count plunged by 21 to 830 as the number of oil rigs dropped by 17 to 696 and the number of gas rigs declined by four to 133. The drop in rigs totaled 238 from a year ago when there were 1,068 active rigs in the U.S. Since then, the decline included 179 oil rigs and 60 gas rigs.

With the exception of Colorado, most of the states around Oklahoma reported losses of rigs. Texas dropped five to 418. North Dakota’s count slid by two to 52. New Mexico dropped one to 110.

Louisiana saw a decline of one to 54 while Wyoming reported a loss of two rigs to 32. The Red Top Rig Report published by the Independent Oil and Gas Service indicated the count in Kansas declined by one to 30. Colorado’s count grew by one to 25.

The Permian Basin saw a decline of 5 rigs to 417. The Granite Wash in Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle has only one active rig following a drop of one rig in the past week.

The Ardmore Woodford in Oklahoma lost one rig and has only one active rig this week. The Arkoma Woodford remained at three rigs.

The Eagle Ford of South Texas added three rigs to hit 63. The Mississippian in northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas saw an increase of one rig to reach three. The Williston in North Dakota dropped two rigs to hit 53.