Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry is starting to bleed. The number of rigs plummeted by 10 in the past week, falling from 76 last week to 66 this week. A year ago, there were 136 oil and gas rigs active in Oklahoma.
The decline came along with a drop of 18 rigs nationally according to figures released by Baker Hughes Co. The national count dropped to 868, down 185 from one year ago when there were 1,053 active oil and gas rigs. It means more oil and gas rigs are in storage.
In the past week, the number of oil rigs in the U.S. dropped by 14 to 719 while the total number of gas rigs fell by 5 to 148. Over the past year, the decline in oil rigs reached 147 while the drop in gas rigs totaled 38.
Oklahoma’s rig count compares to 423 in Texas where there was a decline of 17 rigs. New Mexico added one to reach 109, the number that Oklahoma had until earlier in the year.
The Red Top Rig Report by the Independent Oil and Gas Association in Wichita reported the Kansas rig count grew by two to reach 37. Colorado remained at 26 while Louisiana reported a drop of one to 57 rigs. North Dakota’s count dropped two to 53 and Wyoming’s count of 35 was down one from a week ago.
The oil plays in Oklahoma saw declines. The Ardmore Woodford is down one to two active rigs while the Arkoma Woodford’s count dropped by one, leaving only 3 active rigs.
The Granite Wash remained at only 3 rigs while the Mississippian stayed at two rigs. The D-J Basin in Colorado added a rig to reach 23. The Permian Basin count fell by two to 417. The count in the Williston slipped by 2 to 53.
