Shallow Vertical Wells Get Lift in October; Overall U.S. Rig Count Remains Flat Versus September

HOUSTON, Nov. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Global Platts Analytics, today announced the total U.S. rig count for October 2018 was 1,174, down 1 (0%) from September 2018, and up 126 (+12%) from October 2017. This rig count includes U.S. onshore, U.S. inland waters, and U.S. offshore Gulf of Mexico drilling rigs.

  • October U.S. land rig count: 1,144, down 2 (0%) from the previous month and up 124 (+12%) from October 2017
  • October U.S. inland waters and Gulf of Mexico rig count: , up 1 (+3%) from the previous month and up 2 (+7%) from October 2017

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"While month-over-month rig count performance is basically flat, it's worth taking a look under the hood, where we see an increase in rigs for drilling conventional, shallow natural gas wells, evidence that smaller-scale natural gas producers were taking advantage of the visibly stronger natural gas prices," said S&P Global Platts Analytics Senior Industry Analyst Trey Cowan

Natural gas prices, according to the spot, physical market price of Henry Hub, as assessed by S&P Global Platts, showed a rise of 8% during October.

"Colorado could hold the most volatility in the months ahead," said Cowan. "If Proposition 112* is approved at the U.S. November 6 Midterm Elections, we could see a rush to get wells drilled before permits expire and then a precipitous fall in drilling for the state."  

S&P Global Platts U.S. Rig Counts

































Oct 

2018

Sep

2018

Month

over

Month

Change

%

Change



Oct 

2017

Variance

Year

over

Year

(YOY)

YOY %

Variance

Colorado

35

37

-2

-5%



40

-5

-13%

Louisiana

53

49

4

8%



51

2

4%

New Mexico

89

98

-9

-9%



67

22

33%

North Dakota

60

60

0

0%



52

8

15%

Oklahoma

157

155

2

1%



134

23

17%

Texas

561

563

-2

0%



489

72

15%

Rest of U.S. Land

189

184

5

3%



187

2

1%

U.S. Land Subtotal

1,144

1,146

-2

0%



1,020

124

12%

U.S. Inland Waters

3

2

1

50%



6

-3

-50%

U.S. Gulf of Mexico

27

27

0

0%



22

5

23%

U.S. Inland and Gulf of Mexico

30

29

1

3%



28

2

7%

Total U.S. Rig Count

1,174

1,175

-1

0%



1,048

126

12%

*Colorado's Proposition 112 would require that any new oil and gas development be located at least 2500 feet from any structure intended for human occupancy.

CONTACT

Kathleen Tanzy, + 1 917 331 4607, kathleen.tanzy@spglobal.com

About S&P Global Platts

At S&P Global Platts, we provide the insights; you make better-informed trading and business decisions with confidence. We're the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets. Customers in over 150 countries look to our expertise in news, pricing and analytics to deliver greater transparency and efficiency to markets. S&P Global Platts coverage includes oil and gas, power, petrochemicals, metals, agriculture and shipping.

S&P Global Platts is a division of S&P Global SPGI, which provides essential intelligence for individuals, companies and governments to make decisions with confidence. For more information, visit www.platts.com.

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SOURCE S&P Global Platts

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