U.S. Land Rig Count Dips Slightly in October

HOUSTON, Nov. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Global Platts Analytics, today announced the U.S. rig count for October 2017 was 1,033, down 10 (-1%) from September 2017, and up 395 (+62%) from October 2016. This rig count includes U.S. onshore, U.S. inland waters, and U.S. offshore Gulf of Mexico drilling rigs.

  • October U.S. land rig count: 994, down 8 (-1%) from the previous month and up 394 (+66%) from October 2016
  • October U.S. inland waters and Gulf of Mexico rig count: 39, down 2 (-5%) from the previous month and up 1 (+3%) from October 2016

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"Where the rigs have gone idle of late is interesting because the changes fly in the face of what has happened in the commodities markets," said S&P Global Platts senior industry analyst Trey Cowan. "For example, it was rigs drilling for oil that showed some weakness during the past month, despite prices for West Texas Intermediate crude oil having generally improved. Conversely, we saw a pickup in natural gas rigs juxtaposed against weakening natural gas prices."

Looking ahead, Cowan said: "Over the coming winter we would not be surprised to see a continued seasonal flattening of rig activity as the holidays and the exhausting of yearly capital budgets tend to take a toll."

 

S&P Global Platts U.S. Rig Counts

















October 2017

September 2017

Month over Month Change

% Change


October 2016

Variance Year over Year (YOY)

YOY % Variance

Colorado

40

43

-3

-7%


24

16

67%

Louisiana

48

47

1

2%


29

19

66%

New Mexico

71

72

-1

-1%


33

38

115%

North Dakota

52

53

-1

-2%


34

18

53%

Oklahoma

127

137

-10

-7%


81

46

57%

Texas

480

483

-3

-1%


285

195

68%

Rest of U.S. Land

176

167

9

5%


114

62

54%

U.S. Land Subtotal

994

1002

-8

-1%


600

394

66%

U.S. Inland Waters

8

8

0

0%


5

3

60%

U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM)

31

33

-2

-6%


33

-2

-6%

U.S. Inland and GOM

39

41

-2

-5%


38

1

3%

Total U.S. Rig Count

1,033

1,043

-10

-1%


638

395

62%

 

CONTACT

Kathleen Tanzy, + 1 917 331 4607, kathleen.tanzy@spglobal.com; Gregory Tsichlis, + 817 616 2081, greg.tsichlis@spglobal.com

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SOURCE S&P Global Platts

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