The U.S. rig count increased by three in the last week to 729 as of Feb. 17, according to Enverus Rig Analytics, putting it 3% above where it was a month ago and up 65% YOY.
The daily count reached as high as 740 during the week, compared to a peak of 734 during the prior week—a six-rig peak-to-peak increase.
The Permian added the most rigs in the last week, 10, bringing its total to 286. The basin is also up by 16 rigs in the last month, of which nine were added in the Delaware Basin and seven in the Midland Basin.
Notable increases occurred in Martin (plus 12 to 40), Reeves (plus four to 25), Pecos (plus three to eight) and Winkler (plus three to five) counties, Texas. In Martin County, Pioneer Natural Resources increased its activity by four rigs to six, Endeavor Energy Resources by three rigs to 10, and Diamondback Energy by two rigs to six.
Reeves County’s increases were fueled by single-rig additions. In Pecos County, Pioneer started running a rig at the start of February for the first time since May 2020 and is currently running two. Diamondback added the other Pecos County rig, bringing its total there to two.
After a two-month hiatus, Devon Energy now has two rigs running in Winkler County, along with Percussion Petroleum II’s three rigs.