The Bakken-Three Forks rig count increased to 71 rigs running across our coverage area by end of the week on Friday. In recent Bakken news, crude oil has fallen to a six year low in recent weeks, but even at the current price of around $43, analysts speculate the Bakken will remain strong.
Read more: Can Bakken Break Even at $30?
The U.S. rig count increased by one, ending with 885 rigs running by midday Friday. A total of 211 rigs were targeting natural gas (the same as the previous week) and 674 were targeting oil in the U.S. (two more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 72 are in ND alone.
Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs
The Bakken oil rigs were at 71 rigs this week with Bloomberg reporting WTI oil prices trading at $40.45/bbl on Friday afternoon, a $1.68 decrease from the previous week. WTI-Brent decreased $3.57 landing to $45.46. The Bakken has zero natural active gas rig in the area this week with futures decreasing to $2.68/mmbtu by midday.
McKenzie County continues to lead development and is running 26 running this week, while Williams (15) 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:
- 61 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
- 1 rigs are drilling directional wells
- 2 rigs are drilling vertical wells
Bakken Drilling by County
Bakken Oil & Gas News
New Ruling to Slash Methane Emissions
Montana Mineral Owners Receive Low-Ball Offers from Federal Government
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
