A report by Enverus Rig Analytics shows a drop in the U.S. rig count in the past week with growth stalled in the Permian Basin but up in the Anadarko Basin of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. It also reported a big drop in rig activity by Oklahoma City’s Devon Energy.
Enverus reported a decline of two rigs to 465 nationally as of March 10, still up 7% in the past month but down 43% compared to a year ago.
This week marks one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic and one year since companies started looking to shed rigs. Declines continued through early July, when the US count bottomed out at 266. Today, the rig count is 76% higher than the 2020 bottom.
In the last year, two regions have actually seen an increase in drilling, both of which are gas focused. The Ark-La-Tex count is up by three rigs YOY at 52. In the Northeast, two rigs have been added in the last year, bringing the total to 44.
The rest of the major US oil and gas regions lost 43-62% of their rigs, with the Rockies declining 62%, or 63 rigs, to 38 as of March 10. Tallying a more-than-50% drop were the Gulf Coast (minus 46 rigs to 43) and West Coast (minus seven to six).
It follows that the companies that have added the most rigs YOY are Marcellus and Haynesville producers. CNX Resources went from no rigs this time last year to two presently, while Marcellus peers HG Energy and National Fuel Gas each added two, bringing their totals to two and three rigs, respectively.
In the Haynesville, Comstock Resources and Indigo Natural Resources are also both up by two rigs YOY, to totals of seven and six, respectively.
But now for the shocking declines by major operators stated Enverus in its weekly update.
ExxonMobil is running 57 fewer rigs YOY at eight. ConocoPhillips is down by 21 rigs at 14, and Chevron is down by 19, to nine.
Other multi-basin drillers with double-digit declines were Continental Resources (down 14 to six), Devon Energy (down 10 to 17) and EOG Resources (down 10 to 22).
Permian pure-plays Pioneer Natural Resources and Diamondback Energy dropped the most in a single basin, with Pioneer shedding 17 rigs to land at 21 and Diamondback losing nine and now at 16.
Source: Enverus press release