US drill rig count eases despite Texas, Permian uptick: Baker Hughes

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - North American drilling activity was lower the week ending 7 April, despite small gains in Texas and the Permian Basin, oilfield services firm Baker Hughes reported.

The total weekly rig count decreased by four units to 751, although up by around 9% up from the same time last year.  

The number of rigs dedicated to crude dipped by two to 590, which was up 44 units on the year. Rigs drilling for natural gas were also down by two, standing at 158 for an increase of 17 on the year.

Texas nudged up by one rig to stand at 377 units and 35 more than a year ago, while the Permian Basin, spread across West Texas and New Mexico, was also up one rig at 353 for an increase of 21 on the year.

US oil markets have rebounded strongly since the emergence of the banking crisis, but natural gas remains under downwards pressure.

NYMEX WTI trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange settled on Thursday (6 April March) at $80.70/b for the May23 contract, up 6.6% on the week.

Front-month Jun23 ICE Brent futures closed Friday at $85.12/b, up 6.5% over the same timeframe.

Natural gas continued to decline with the May23 Henry Hub contract on NYMEX closing just above $2/mmBtu, trading at around two-year lows.

Late last month, energy major Chevron topped the list of highest bidders in the latest round for exploration drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico, the US Department of the Interior announced.

Chevron came in with seven out of the 10 highest bids in an auction Wednesday that attracted over $300 million dollars of interest, as part of a sale mandated by last year's Inflation Reduction Act.