The Bakken-Three Forks rig count decreased this week to 68 rigs running across our coverage area.
In recent Bakken news, U.S. District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl delayed the new federal fracking rule, which was to go into effect last week. The permitting of oil and gas wells on federal land will proceed under current regulations until July 22nd.
Read more: North Dakota Fights Fracking Rule
The U.S. rig count decreased by six, ending with 857 rigs running by midday Friday. A total of 218 rigs were targeting natural gas (one more than the previous week) and 638 were targeting oil in the U.S. (seven less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.)68 are in ND alone.
Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs
The Bakken oil rigs decreased to 68 rigs this week with Bloomberg reporting WTI oil prices trading at $50.85/bbl on Friday afternoon, a $1.89 decrease from the previous week. WTI-Brent decreased $1.62 landing to $57.11. The Bakken has zero natural active gas rig in the area this week with futures increasing to $2.88/mmbtu by midday.
McKenzie County continues to lead development and is running 27 running this week, while Williams dropped to 14 and Mountrail stayed flat at 12. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.
Activity continues to be dominated by horizontal drilling:
- 68 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
Oil & Gas Bankruptcies Likely to Increase
U.S. Oil Production Has Peaked
Savage Services Cuts Jobs in Bakken
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