Economy
Oil & Natural Gas Rig Count: Nat Gas 79% Below Peak
Written by Peter Wright
February 23, 2014
The Baker Hughes North American Rotary Rig Count is a weekly census of the number of drilling rigs actively exploring for or developing oil or natural gas in the United States and Canada. Rigs are considered active from the time they break ground until the time they reach their target depth and may be establishing a new well or sidetracking an existing one. The Baker Hughes Rotary Rig count includes only those rigs that are significant consumers of oilfield services and supplies.
Figure 2 shows that the oil rig count has been trending flat for 18 months but is still close to a high point for the last 2 ½ decades. The gas rig count is still trending down and is currently 79 percent below the peak of September 2008.
On a regional basis the big three states for operating rigs are now Texas at 843, Oklahoma at 181 and North Dakota at 166. Off shore drilling has recovered from the BP oil spill in 2010 but is still not back to where it was at the beginning of the last decade.
Peter Wright
Read more from Peter WrightLatest in Economy
Industry groups praise Senate for passing tax and budget bill
The Steel Manufacturers Association and the American Iron and Steel Institute applauded the tax provisions included in the Senate's tax and budget reconciliation bill.
Chicago PMI dips 0.1 points in June
The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) slipped 0.1 points to 40.4 points, in June.
Multi-family pullback drives housing starts to 5-year low in May
US housing starts tumbled in May to a five-year low, according to figures recently released by the US Census Bureau.
Architecture firms still struggling, ABI data shows
Architecture firms reported a modest improvement in billings through May, yet business conditions remained soft, according to the latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI) release from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Deltek.
Manufacturing in New York state contracts again
However, companies are growing more optimistic about the future.