Baker Hughes

The rig count in the Marcellus/Utica appears to have stabilized, and that’s a good thing. For a while, it was in freefall, at least in Pennsylvania. In October, Pennsylvania’s rig count dropped to just 12 rigs, the lowest that state has operated in the last 17 years (see PA Drops Another Rig to 17-Year Low; National Rig Count Even @ 585). Since then, PA has recovered a few rigs, clawing and scratching every inch of the way. Last week, the PA count stood at 15, the same as the prior week. Ohio and West Virginia held steady, with ten active rigs each. The M-U had a combined 35 rigs operating for the second week in a row, the most since August. Read More “M-U Rigs Steady @ 35; National Rig Count Drops One Rig @ 583”

One month ago, Pennsylvania’s rig count dropped to just 12 rigs, the lowest that state has operated in the last 17 years (see PA Drops Another Rig to 17-Year Low; National Rig Count Even @ 585). Since then, PA has re-added one rig per week for three weeks in a row, and as of last Friday, the state was running 15 rigs for the first time since early October. Ohio and West Virginia both remained constant, with ten active rigs each. Cumulatively, the M-U sported 35 active rigs last week. We haven’t seen a rig count that high since August of this year (three months ago). Read More “PA Adds One Rig, Now @ 15; National Rig Count Drops One Rig @ 584”

Three weeks ago, Pennsylvania’s rig count dropped to just 12 rigs, the lowest that state has operated in the last 17 years (see PA Drops Another Rig to 17-Year Low; National Rig Count Even @ 585). Two weeks ago, PA picked up a rig, returning to 13 active rigs. Last week, Baker Hughes reported PA added yet another rig, and the state count is now at 14. Almost three months ago (as of August 23), PA operated 21 rigs for perspective. Last week, Ohio and West Virginia maintained their respective counts of 10 active rigs each. The combined count in the M-U stands at 34. Read More “PA Re-Adds a Rig to 14; National Rig Count Even 3rd Week @ 585”

Two weeks ago, Pennsylvania lost another rig, going from 13 rigs down to 12 rigs, the lowest that state has operated in the last 17 years (see PA Drops Another Rig to 17-Year Low; National Rig Count Even @ 585). Last week, PA picked up one rig, so the tally is back to 13. It’s still not great, but we suppose it’s progress. A little over two months ago (as of August 23), PA operated 21 rigs. We went through a period of rapid rig loss in the Keystone State. Last week, Ohio and West Virginia maintained their respective counts of 10 active rigs each. Read More “PA Re-Adds One Rig to 13; National Rig Count Even 2nd Week @ 585”

The realignment we spoke of several weeks ago about Pennsylvania losing rigs to its neighbors has deepened. Last week, PA lost another rig, going from 13 rigs down to 12 rigs, while Ohio picked up one rig and now has 10 active rigs. West Virginia also operated 10 rigs last week. Just two months ago (as of August 23), PA operated 21 rigs, OH had 9 rigs, and WV had just 5 rigs. This is a massive realignment away from PA to its neighbors. According to Reuters, PA’s rig count is at a 17-year (!) low. What the heck is going on with the mighty PA Marcellus? Read More “PA Drops Another Rig to 17-Year Low; National Rig Count Even @ 585”

Two weeks ago, Pennsylvania lost two rigs, down to just 13 active rigs, the lowest PA’s rig count has been since July 2016 (see PA Craters, Drops 2 Rigs, M-U @ 32; National Rig Count Adds 1 @ 586). That’s the lowest rig count for PA in more than eight years. Last week, PA and the other two Marcellus/Utica states, OH and WV, remained constant in their rig counts (13, nine, and ten, respectively). The national rig count collectively lost one rig last week and now stands at 585. Read More “PA Rig Count Stays Down, M-U @ 32; National Count Drops 1 @ 585”

Once again, the bottom dropped out of the Pennsylvania Marcellus rig count. PA lost two rigs last week, down to just 13 active rigs, the lowest the PA rig count has been since July 2016. That’s the lowest rig count for PA in more than eight years, lower than the deep dark days of the pandemic four years ago. Ohio and West Virginia’s counts remained the same at nine and ten, respectively. On August 23, PA ran 21 rigs, OH had nine rigs, and WV had just five rigs. Last Friday (just two months later), PA had 13 rigs (a loss of eight from August), OH still had nine, but WV had ten rigs (a gain of five of PA’s lost eight). The realignment of rigs from PA to WV is an ongoing, big story concerning the rig count. Read More “PA Craters, Drops 2 Rigs, M-U @ 32; National Rig Count Adds 1 @ 586”

Two weeks ago, the national rig count, which counts all oil and gas rigs, added an astonishing eight rigs to the count after languishing for months — the biggest weekly gain in a year. As we told you, the Marcellus/Utica rig count from two weeks ago remained at 33, but that wasn’t the whole story (see Rig Bloodbath Continues – Pennsylvania Loses 7 Rigs in 3 Weeks). The whole story is that Pennsylvania is losing rigs, bleeding rigs, like crazy—four rigs gone in two weeks. And West Virginia is gaining those lost rigs. Last week’s Baker Hughes rig count shows the M-U maintained at 33. Thankfully, no rigs changed in any of the three M-U states. Read More “M-U Rig Count Stabilizes @ 33; National Rig Count Drops 2 @ 588”

Hidden in last Friday’s weekly Baker Hughes official rig count is a big story happening in the Marcellus/Utica. From the 30,000-foot level, Friday’s latest rig count report appeared just fine. The national rig count, which counts all oil and gas rigs, added an astonishing eight rigs to the count after languishing for months — the biggest weekly gain in a year. Very nice. The M-U count maintained at 33, down from a few weeks ago, but still not completely terrible. But then you open the hood and look at the engine, and something startling happens. Pennsylvania is losing rigs, bleeding rigs, like crazy—four rigs gone in the last two weeks. And West Virginia is gaining those lost rigs. Typically, there’s no one answer as to why these things happen. Our best guess is that Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), coming online from the northern panhandle of WV to southern Virginia, carrying natgas to markets outside the immediate region for higher prices, has much to do with this realignment.
Read More “Rig Bloodbath Continues – Pennsylvania Loses 7 Rigs in 3 Weeks”

A very big story is unfolding in the Marcellus/Utica, and nobody else is talking about it. There is a major reshuffling of rigs in the M-U, with Pennsylvania losing active rigs and West Virginia picking them up. Two weeks ago, PA dropped from 21 to 18 active rigs, the lowest count it has had in 2 1/2 years (see Pennsylvania Dropped 3 Rigs Last Week, Lowest Count in 2.5 Years). WV picked up one of those rigs, moving from five to six active rigs. Last week, the trend accelerated.
Read More “Trend Accelerates: Pennsylvania Loses 2 More Rigs to West Virginia”

The big news (for us) with the weekly Baker Hughes rig count is that last week, Pennsylvania laid down its use of three active drilling rigs, resulting in the lowest rig count in the state in 2 1/2 years. PA now operates 18 active rigs, down from 21 the week prior. The last time PA operated only 18 rigs was, according to our records, in November 2021. Fortunately, West Virginia picked up one of those rigs and improved its count from five to six. Ohio remained the same with nine active rigs. So, the Marcellus/Utica, in total, went from 35 active rigs two weeks ago to 33 active rigs last week. The national rig count (for both oil and gas rigs) dropped by two, now with 583 active rigs. Read More “Pennsylvania Dropped 3 Rigs Last Week, Lowest Count in 2.5 Years”

We continue to be range-bound with respect to the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count. The count has gone up and down every few weeks. But since the third week of June, the range has been as low as 581 and as high as 589. And that’s it. We seem to have found the bottom (we hope we have). Last week, the national rig count lost another rig and now stands at 585. The Marcellus/Utica remained even at 35 active rigs after losing one rig two weeks ago. Pennsylvania operates 21 active rigs; Ohio operates nine active rigs; and West Virginia operates five active rigs.
Read More “National Rig Count Down Again: U.S. Drops 1 @ 585, M-U Even @ 35”

We are officially range-bound with respect to the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count. The count has gone up and down every few weeks. But since the third week of June, the range has been as low as 581 and as high as 589. And that’s it. Last week, the national rig count lost two rigs and now stands at 586. The Marcellus/Utica also lost one rig and now uses 35 active rigs. Pennsylvania remained the same with 21 active rigs. Ohio lost a rig (second week in a row) and now operates nine active rigs. West Virginia remained the same with five active rigs.
Read More “National Rig Count Down Again: U.S. Drops 2 @ 586, M-U Drops 1 @ 35”