Bakken Shale Rig Count Drops to 31

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count drops by two this week with Baker Hughes reporting 31 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday..

In recent Bakken news, Whiting Petroleum has announced its intention to sell its Bakken midstream assets to a subsidiary of Tesoro Logistics.

Read more: Whiting to Sell Bakken Assets

A total of 596 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, a gain of four over last week. 119 rigs targeted natural gas (one more than the previous week) and 477 were targeting oil in the U.S. (three more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 31 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in North Dakota.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

Bakken oil rigs were at 31 this week with Bloomberg reporting WTI oil prices increased $4.25 to $51.68 on Friday afternoon. Prices for WTI-Brent also rose to a per barrel price of $54.46. The Bakken has zero natural active gas rig in the area this week with futures trading at $3.46/mmbtu by midday.

McKenzie County leads production in the region with 13 rigs running this week. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity continues to be dominated by horizontal drilling:

  • 31 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
  • 0 rigs are drilling directional wells
  • 0 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Bakken Drilling by County

 

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.

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 Shale Region Maintaining 33 Rigs

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count continued to fall this week with Baker Hughes reporting 33 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Wednesday..

In recent Bakken news, North Dakota's Department of Mineral Resources announced that the state's crude-oil production dropped in September to the lowest level in more than two years.

Read more: Helms predicts oil to go lower for longer

A total of 592 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, a gain of five over last week. 118 rigs targeted natural gas (two more than the previous week) and 474 were targeting oil in the U.S. (three more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 33 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in North Dakota.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

Bakken oil rigs were at 33 this week with Bloomberg reporting WTI oil prices increased $1.74 to $47.43 on Wednesday afternoon. Prices for WTI-Brent also rose to a per barrel price of $48.42. The Bakken has zero natural active gas rig in the area this week with futures trading at $3.04/mmbtu by midday.

McKenzie County leads production in the region but dropped one to 13 rigs running this week. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity continues to be dominated by horizontal drilling:

  • 33 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
  • 0 rigs are drilling directional wells
  • 0 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Bakken Drilling by County

 

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.

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

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Bakken Rigs Count Remains Sluggish Compared to U.S. Total

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count continued to shrink this week as U.S. counts increase by 20. Baker Hughes reports 34 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

A total of 587 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, a gain of 20 over last week. 116 rigs targeted natural gas (one more than the previous week) and 471 were targeting oil in the U.S. (19 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 34 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in North Dakota.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

Bakken oil rigs were at 34 this week with Bloomberg reporting WTI oil prices increased $2.23 to $45.69 on Friday afternoon. Prices for WTI-Brent also rose to a per barrel price of $46.86. The Bakken has zero natural active gas rig in the area this week with futures trading at $2.85/mmbtu by midday.

McKenzie County leads production in the region with 14 rigs running this week. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity continues to be dominated by horizontal drilling:

  • 34 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
  • 0 rigs are drilling directional wells
  • 0 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Bakken Drilling by County

 

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.

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 Shale Loses Rigs

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count fell back this week with Baker Hughes reporting 35 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Bakken news, The Hess Corporation announced its 2016 third quarter results, which included a drop in Bakken production.

Read more: Hess Corp Adds bakken Rigs

A total of 567 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, a gain of zero over last week. 115 rigs targeted natural gas (two less than the previous week) and 452 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.)  35 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in North Dakota.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

Bakken oil rigs were at 35 this week with Bloomberg reporting WTI oil prices dropping $.67 to $43.46 on Friday afternoon. WTI-Brent also fell, with Bloomberg reporting a per barrel price of $44.79. The Bakken has zero natural active gas rig in the area this week with futures trading at $2.62/mmbtu by midday.

McKenzie County leads production in the region with 15 rigs running this week. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity continues to be dominated by horizontal drilling:

  • 35 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
  • 0 rigs are drilling directional wells
  • 0 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Bakken Drilling by County

 

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.

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 Shale Play Continues to Gain Rigs

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count continued to gain this week with Baker Hughes reporting 37 rigs running across our coverage area by midday Friday.

In recent Bakken news, Oasis Petroleum announced it has signed an agreement to purchase the drilling rights to approximately 55,000 net acres in the Williston Basin from SM Energy Company.

Read more: Oasis Purchases More Bakken Acreage

A total of 567 oil and gas rigs were running across the United States this week, a gain of 12 over last week. 117 rigs targeted natural gas (three more than the previous week) and 450 were targeting oil in the U.S. (nine more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 37 of the rigs active in the U.S. were running in North Dakota.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

Bakken oil rigs were at 37 this week with Bloomberg reporting WTI oil prices dropping $4.57 to $44.13 on Friday afternoon. WTI-Brent also fell, with Bloomberg reporting a per barrel price of $45.60. The Bakken has zero natural active gas rig in the area this week with futures trading at $2.78/mmbtu by midday.

McKenzie County leads production in the region with 14 rigs running this week. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity continues to be dominated by horizontal drilling:

  • 36 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
  • 1 rigs are drilling directional wells
  • 0 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Bakken Drilling by County

 

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.

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