The Bakken-Three Forks rig count increased this week to 69 rigs running across our coverage area.
In recent Bakken news, a North Dakota railcar and logistics facility laid off 10% of its full time employees this week. Company sources blame the layoffs on decreased demand for railcars to transport Bakken crude oil.
Read more: Savage Services Cuts Jobs in Bakken
The U.S. rig count increased by 19, ending with 876 rigs running by midday Friday. A total of 216 rigs were targeting natural gas (two less than the previous week) and 659 were targeting oil in the U.S. (21 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.)69 are in ND alone.
Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs
The Bakken oil rigs increased to 69 rigs this week with Bloomberg reporting WTI oil prices trading at $48.13/bbl on Friday afternoon, a $2.72 decrease from the previous week. WTI-Brent decreased $2.41 landing to $54.7. The Bakken has zero natural active gas rig in the area this week with futures increasing to $2.78/mmbtu by midday.
McKenzie County continues to lead development and is running 27 running this week, while Williams (14) and Mountrail (12) followed behind. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.
Activity continues to be dominated by horizontal drilling:
- 69 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
- 0 rigs are drilling directional wells
- 0 rigs are drilling vertical wells
Bakken Drilling by County
Bakken Oil & Gas News
Fracking Linked to Drop-Out Rates
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