M-U Rigs Realign: PA Stays @ 20, OH Drops 2 @ 11, WV Adds 1 @ 8
Last week, the Marcellus/Utica saw a realignment in rig counts, at least in Ohio and West Virginia. Pennsylvania kept the 20 rigs it has had since early February. Ohio lost two rigs, from 13 to 11, the fewest active rigs in the Buckeye State since last September. And perhaps the biggest news was that West Virginia picked up one rig, from 7 to 8 rigs, for the first time since last May! Overall, the M-U region had a net loss of one rig last week, going from 40 to 39 active rigs. The M-U’s biggest competitor, the Haynesville, gained one rig, from 52 to 53 rigs, some 14 rigs more than the M-U. It wasn’t all that long ago that the M-U ran more rigs than the Haynesville. Read More “M-U Rigs Realign: PA Stays @ 20, OH Drops 2 @ 11, WV Adds 1 @ 8”

Oilfield services giant Baker Hughes (BKR), a company with its fingers in many different energy pies (not just OFS) and operations in over 120 countries worldwide, issued its fourth-quarter 2025 update last week. We scoured the update, the conference call, and the latest slide deck. The company did not explicitly mention the Marcellus or Utica shale regions. However, several items from the update directly impact the outlook for the M-U region.
Last week, the Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count got wacked good, losing 10 rigs from the previous week. The national count went from 554 to 544 (as of Wednesday, when BH reported the numbers). Bummer. It had gained rigs for each of the prior three weeks. Rigs in the Marcellus/Utica remained the same last week after gaining one rig the week before. Pennsylvania has held at 18 for two weeks in a row. Ohio was the same at 13 rigs, which it has operated since September 26. West Virginia maintained its 7 rigs, which it has operated since May 30. There were 24 rigs targeting the Marcellus and 14 targeting the Utica, for a combined 38 rigs in the M-U.