US energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for a seventh week in a row for the first time since July 2020, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report on Friday.
The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by 8 to 687 in the week to June 16, the lowest since April 2022.
Baker Hughes said that puts the total count down by 53 rigs, or 7 percent, over this time last year.
US oil rigs fell by 4 to 552 this week, their lowest since April 2022, while gas rigs fell 5 to 130, their lowest since March 2022.
Two shale regions each lost four rigs this week, the Permian in Texas and New Mexico, the nation’s biggest oil basin, and the Marcellus in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, the nation’s biggest gas basin.
The rig count fell to 342 in the Permian, its lowest since September 2022, and 35 in the Marcellus, its lowest since March 2023, according to Baker Hughes.
Data provider Enverus, which publishes its own rig count data, said drillers added four rigs in the week to June 14, boosting the overall count to 752. The total count remained down about 28 rigs in the last month and down 9 percent year-over-year.
US oil futures were down about 11 percent so far this year after gaining about 7 percent in 2022. US gas futures meanwhile, have plunged 41 percent so far this year after rising about 20 percent last year.
The massive drop in gas prices has already caused some exploration and production companies, including Chesapeake Energy Corp Southwestern Energy Co and Comstock Resources Inc to announce plans to reduce production by cutting some rigs – especially in the Haynesville shale in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. -Reuters
