The Bakken-Three Forks rig count dropped by six at 91 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Thursday.

In recent Bakken news, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released the latest data for crude by rail  (CBR) across the country that shows a significant increase over the last five years. Crude by rail continues to be highly controversial as people question the safety for individuals and the environment.

Read more: Crude by Rail Up 1700%

The U.S. rig count fell another 20 to 1028 rigs running as of today. A total of 211 rigs were targeting natural gas (down 11 from the previous week) and 812 were targeting oil in the U.S. (1 less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.)91 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD. 90 are in ND alone.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs dropped to 91 rigs as of by midday Thursday.  WTI oil prices decreased $.91 from the previous week, trading at $49.14/bbl on Friday afternoon. The WTI-Brent saw an increase of $2.75 by week’s end, landing at $54.95. There are currently no natural active gas rigs in the area and futures are trading at $2.71/mmbtu by midday.

McKenzie County continues to lead development but dropped to 40 running rigs this week. Williams (18) and Mountrail (17) counties are the next closest producers. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity continues to be dominated by horizontal drilling:

• 91 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
• 0 rigs are drilling directional wells
• 0 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Bakken Drilling by County

Bakken Drilling by County Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

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What is the Rig Count?

The Bakken Shale Rig Count is an index of the total number of oil & gas drilling rigs running across Montana and North Dakota. The rigs referred to in this article are for ALL drilling reported by Baker Hughes and not solely wells targeting the Bakken formation. All land rigs and onshore rig data shown here are based upon industry estimates provided by the Baker Hughes Rig Count.

Read more at bakerhughes.com