Nat’l Rig Count Down 9 @ 578; Marcellus Even @ 25, Utica Down 3 @ 10
We’re catching up on two weeks of changes in the rig count, and wow! Things changed. And NOT in a good way. The national count lost nine rigs over the past two weeks, going from 587 on April 25 to 584 on May 2 and then down to 578 on May 9. But it was the Marcellus/Utica that caught our attention. Two weeks ago, for the May 2 Baker Hughes rig count, Ohio dropped three rigs in a single week, going from 12 on April 25 to nine on May 2. The Ohio count remained at nine on May 9. Consequently, the combined M-U count went from 38 two weeks ago to 35 and has remained at that level. Both Pennsylvania and West Virginia kept their same counts of 18 and 8, respectively. Read More “Nat’l Rig Count Down 9 @ 578; Marcellus Even @ 25, Utica Down 3 @ 10”

The Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count lost one rig last week (after gaining one the week before), now operating 592 active rigs. As for the Marcellus/Utica, the rig count was a combined 35 last week. However, there was a notable change in the totals. Rigs focused on the Marcellus were down by one to a combined 23 across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Rigs focused on the Utica picked up the lost Marcellus rig, now at a combined 12. PA had operated 15 rigs (or more) for 19 weeks straight. That streak was broken last week when PA lost a rig. OH had operated nine rigs for 16 weeks in a row but picked up one last week and now stands at ten active rigs. WV had operated 10 rigs for an astonishing 23 weeks in a row. Six weeks ago, WV added (and has kept) one additional rig and operates 11 active rigs.
Prior to last week, the Baker Hughes national rig count had been in a freefall for weeks, dropping to a 3+ year low of 576 (see