A new weekly report shows Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy is one of the most active drillers in the Permian Basin of West Texas and Southeast New Mexico.
Enverus Rig Analyltics, based in Austin, Texas reported the active U.S. rig count fell by seven rigs over the past week to 536 as of July 7.
The most active drillers in the Permian are Pioneer Natural Resources (26 rigs), Mewbourne Oil (14), Devon Energy (13) and ConocoPhillips (12). Compared to a year ago, there are nearly 100 more rigs running in the play.
Notably, Devon is actually running three fewer Permian rigs than this time last year, while Pioneer is running 14 more. Mewbourne is running 12 more than this time last year, while ExxonMobil is down by 18 rigs in the Permian at seven presently.
Week over week, the most significant changes were in the Permian, with the count dropping by six to 222. The Delaware Basin fell four to 124, and the Midland Basin dropped two to 98.
The dog days of summer are upon us, and historically that means relatively steady rig counts from July to August. If you look at the differences between the July and August averages for the past seven years, you get a mean of four rigs. At roughly this time last year, the pandemic had done its worst to rig activity, dropping the total to 264 on July 5. The current rig count is up 99% YOY, as well as up 3% on the month.