The number of rigs working onshore in the Lower 48 U.S. states dipped slightly last week, the fourth week in the last five where the working-rig total has fallen, data from Baker Hughes, a GE company, reveals.
For the five-day period ended July 3 (two days shorter than normal due to the Fourth of July holiday), 927 rigs were working, down four rigs from the previous week, Kallanish Energy calculates.
Working-rig total slips slghtly in latest survey
| Week ended | Rigs working | Change from previous week |
| July 3 | 927 | (4) |
| June 28 | 931 | 1 |
| June 21 | 930 | (6) |
| June 14 | 936 | (6) |
| June 7 | 942 | (8) |
(Source: Baker Hughes, a GE company)
The July 3 total was down 89 working rigs, or 8.8%, from the 1,016 rigs working during the week ended June 29, 2018, but was up 16 rigs, or 1.8%, from the 911 rigs working the week ended June 30, 2017.
The latest total was up a whopping 526 rigs, or 131.2%, from the 401 rigs working during the week ended July 1, 2016.
Looking at individual drilling areas, five reported a week-to-week increase in working rigs, another five recorded a drop in rigs, and 16 areas reported no week-to-week change in working rigs.
State-wise, the biggest week-to-week increase in working rigs was in New Mexico, up three rigs, to 102, from 99 rigs working the previous week. The biggest drop was recorded in Oklahoma, down five, to 97.
Texas, home to the most working rigs in the U.S. dropped a single rig, dropping to 461.
This post appeared first on Kallanish Energy News.