The Bakken rig count held flat at 180 rigs running in the region for the third week. The average rig count so far in 2013 has been just over 186 rigs running.
The U.S. rig count was down 15 to 1,786, of which 182 are running in the Williston Basin. A total of 387 rigs are targeting natural gas and 1,382 are targeting oil in the U.S. The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.).
News last week was highlighted by Enbridge completing $600 million in investments and bringing the Berthold Rail Facility and the company's latest pipeline expansion online. The company now has the capacity to move 415,000 b/d out of the Williston Basin.
Read more in the article Enbridge Completes Bakken Pipeline Expansion & Berthold Rail Facility
Note: The NDIC reports 185 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is 16 more than Baker Hughes reports. The difference is likely accounted for in the number of rigs actually working and rigs that might not be serviced by Baker Hughes. On any given week, a certain number of rigs are in route to the next well location or idle waiting to drill the next well. The NDIC notes that 20 rigs are in the process of moving in and rigging up.
Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs
The number of oil rigs running held flat at 180 in the region. WTI prices were trading near $106/bbl and the benchmark has been above $100 for seven weeks running. Williston Basin Sweet crude traded at $94.19/bbl on August 23rd.
The natural gas rig count in the region held flat at zero. Natural gas futures (Henry Hub) were trading near $3.50/mmbtu. Natural gas delivered to the Northern Border pipeline in Watford City is trading below $3/mmbtu. A little more than 10% of the production stream from the Bakken and Three Forks is attributable to natural gas.
McKenzie County led development with 65 rigs running. Dunn, Mountrail, and Williams counties are the only other counties with more than 20 rigs running. View the full list below.
Bakken Oil & Gas News:
- Enerplus's Fort Berthold Bakken Production Drives Company-wide Growth
- Bakken On Auto-Pilot With 180 Rigs Running
- Enbridge Completes Bakken Pipeline Expansion & Berthold Rail Facility
- EOG Resources' Secrets To Success In The Bakken
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Bakken Drilling by County
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 and/or Smith Service Co's (Schlumberger) Smith Rig Count.