While the number of oil and gas rigs in use across the U.S. fell by 43 last week to 1,633—the lowest level since the week of August 6, 2010—Louisiana gained three rigs on the week for a total of 110, according to data released by Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes.
Other major oil and gas states did not fare as well as Louisiana this week. Texas’ count declined by 13, North Dakota dropped nine, Oklahoma fell eight and Ohio lost four, while California and New Mexico each lost three and Utah declined by two. Baker Hughes says 1,317 rigs were exploring for oil and 316 for gas. A year ago 1,777 rigs were active. The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
In Louisiana, 46 of the 110 total rigs were inland, 11 were in inland water sources and 53 were located offshore.
The number of oil and gas rigs has tumbled over the last several weeks as the price of oil has cratered. Earlier this week, research firm Wood Mackenzie estimated the number of onshore land rigs operating in the U.S. could fall by 30% this year. http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/01/22/report-u-s-land-rig-count-could-fall-30-percent/
Baker Hughes says that in past downturns, the number of rigs has dropped by as much as 40% to 60%. So far, the number of rigs in use has dropped about 15% since the price of oil began falling off. BusinessInsider.com has the full story.
