Bakken Rig Count Slides to 126

February 13, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count decreased by nine t0 126 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.

In recent Bakken news, Occidental announced it will scale back its 2015 capital spending by 33 percent to $5.8 billion from $8.7 billion spent in 2014. In addition to the cuts, the company will also be reducing its activity in the Bakken.

The U.S. rig count fell another 98 to 1358 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 300 rigs were targeting natural gas (down 14 from the previous week) and 1056 were targeting oil in the U.S. (84 less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.).129 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD. 123 are in ND alone.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs decreased by nine t0 126 rigs running by the end of the week . WTI oil prices increased by $.95 from the previous week, trading at $52.64/bbl on Friday afternoon.. The WTI-Brent saw a decrease of $.75 by week’s end, landing at $57.05. Natural gas rigs decreased by one with futures trading at $2.80/mmbtu by the end of last week.

McKenzie County continues to lead development with 47 rigs running. Williams (28), Mountrail (21) and Dunn (20) counties are the only other counties with more than 2o rigs running each. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity is dominated by horizontal drilling:

125 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
0 rigs are drilling directional wells
1 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Be sure to visit our Bakken Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts - Daily or Weekly Email Alerts

Bakken Drilling by County

Bakken Oil & Gas News

North Dakota Tax Trigger Getting Closer

Occidental Petroleum Reduced 2015 Capex by 33%

Keystone Bill Hits Another Snag

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 the full repot at bakerhughes.com

Bakken Rig Count Down 10 to 135

February 9, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count decreased by ten t0 135 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.

In recent Bakken news, Hess Corporation recently announced revisions to its 2015 capital and exploratory budget that includes a big cut in the Bakken. The company plans to reduce spending in the region by 18% from 2014 numbers, hoping to allow the company to remain flexible in the face of an extreme pricing environment.

The U.S. rig count fell another 87 to 1456 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 314 rigs were targeting natural gas (down 2 from the previous week) and 1,317 1140 were targeting oil in the U.S. (177 less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.).137 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD. 132 are in ND alone.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs decreased by ten to 135 rigs running by the end of the week . WTI oil prices increased by $3.45 from the previous week, trading at $51.69/bbl on Friday afternoon.. The WTI-Brent also saw an increase of $4.81 by week’s end, landing at $57.80. Natural gas rigs increased by one with futures trading at $2.58/mmbtu by the end of last week.

McKenzie County continues to lead development with 49 rigs running. Williams (30), Mountrail (23) and Dunn (22) counties are the only other counties with more than 2o rigs running each. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity is dominated by horizontal drilling:

130 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
3 rigs are drilling directional wells
2 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Be sure to visit our Bakken Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts - Daily or Weekly Email Alerts

Bakken Drilling by County

What is the Rig Count?

Bakken Rig Count Down to 145

February 2, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count decreased by six t0 145 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week.

In recent Bakken news, companies finally caught up with plummeting oil prices and began laying off workers this month. Since November, one company after another announced massive reductions in their 2015 budgets as they have scrambled to cope with the dramatic 50% drop in crude prices since the summer.

The U.S. rig count fell by 90 to 1543 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 316 rigs were targeting natural gas (up 6 from the previous week) and 1,317 were targeting oil in the U.S. (ten less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.).145 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD. 138 are in ND alone.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs decreased by six to 145 rigs running by the end of the week . WTI oil prices increased by $3.10 from the previous week, trading at $48.24/bbl on Friday afternoon. The WTI-Brent also saw an increase of close to $5 by week’s end, landing at $52.00. Natural gas rigs stayed flat with futures (Henry Hub) trading at $2.69/mmbtu by the end of last week.

McKenzie County continues to lead development with 52 rigs running. Mountrail, Williams and Dunn counties are the only other counties with more than 2o rigs running each. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity is dominated by horizontal drilling:

139 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
4 rigs are drilling directional wells
2 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Bakken Oil & Gas News

Keystone Bill Hits Another Snag

Supply Chain Initiative Launched for Bakken

Halcón Resources Reduces 2015 Budget

Be sure to visit our Bakken Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts - Daily or Weekly Email Alerts

Bakken Drilling by County

What is the Rig Count?

Bakken Play Rig Count Declines by 11

January 26, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count decreased by eleven to 152 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week. In their weekly rig update, Baker Hughes reported that the Bakken's decline is part of the overall plunge in U.S. oil and gas rig counts that are down by 49 to 1633.

Declines were seen in all rig types:

DIRECTIONAL 6 (-6) HORIZONTAL 144 (-8) VERTICAL 1 (-2)

Most alarming to our readers is that Williston saw the biggest drop in the entire country and is showing the lowest numbers in four years.

“James Williams Williams, president of energy consulting company WTRG Economics commented to Bloomberg that, “The Bakken was late to join the others leaving the party. It’s a high-cost producer with some of the lowest oil prices in the country.”

This news is a result of the continued free-fall in crude prices, which dipped again today to $45.14. As expected, major Bakken operators are responding by continuing to slash their budgets for 2015.

What is the Rig Count?

Bakken Rig Count Decreases to 163

January 20, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count decreased sharply over the past month, ending last week with a total of 163 rigs across our coverage area. This represents a drop of seven from last week and a startling 17 from only one month ago, according to the weekly report from Baker Hughes.

WTI crude prices have decreased by ~$9.59 since December 19th, trading at $55.99/bbl on Monday morning. As oil prices continue to drop, reports of deeper budget cuts and layoffs are now daily news.

Related: Energy Giants Announce Layoffs

The Bakken isn’t the only region to see a decline. The U.S. rig count decreased to 1,676 rigs running by the end of last week with a total of 310 rigs targeting natural gas (down 28 from December) and 1,366 targeting oil in the U.S. (down 170 since December). 165 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD. 156 are in ND alone.

Bakken Drilling by County

Activity in the Bakken continues to be dominated by horizontal drilling:

152 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
8 rigs are drilling directional wells
3 rigs are drilling vertical wells