Dec. 27 – The number of rigs in the Permian Basin was unchanged this week, according to Friday’s latest count from Baker Hughes, with 304 rigs operating in the region. A year ago, there were 309 oil rigs active in the region.
At a national level, the number of oil and gas platforms is unchanged from last week, namely 589 drilling rigs. A year ago, 622 drilling rigs were active. The count shows that 483 rigs searched for oil, unchanged from the previous week, and 102 rigs searched for natural gas, unchanged from the previous week. The count also shows four miscellaneous drilling rigs, unchanged from the previous week.
The number of U.S. drilling rigs peaked in 1981 at 4,530. In August 2020, it reached a low of 244.
Regional benchmark Plains-West Texas Intermediate Posting ended Friday at $67.08 a barrel, $1.14 higher than last Friday’s close. National benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude ended at $70.60 a barrel, up $1.14 from the previous week.
