The Bakken-Three Forks rig count decreased this week to 73 rigs running across our coverage area.
In recent Bakken news, Energy Transfer Pipeline is moving forward with plans to build a massive 1.134 mile pipeline that will transport crude from the Bakken through South Dakota and into Patoka, Illinois amid public concerns.
Read more:Dakota Access Pipeline Concerns
The U.S. rig count increased slightly, ending with 859 rigs running by midday Friday. A total of 228 rigs were targeting natural gas (five more the previous week) and 628 were targeting oil in the U.S. (three less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.)74 are in ND alone.
Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs
The Bakken oil rigs fell to 73 rigs this week with Bloomberg reporting WTI oil prices trading at $59.63/bbl on Friday afternoon, a $.02 decrease from the previous week. WTI-Brent increased $.24 landing to $63.26. The Bakken has zero natural active gas rig in the area this week with futures dropping to $2.77/mmbtu by midday.
McKenzie County continues to lead development and is running 3o running this week. Williams stays at 18, but Mountrail loses two rigs to 11. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.
Activity continues to be dominated by horizontal drilling:
- 72 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
- 1 rigs are drilling directional wells
- 0 rigs are drilling vertical wells
Bakken Oil & Gas News
Two Saltwater Leaks in North Dakota
Turning Drilling Waste into Roads
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