According to foreign news on October 6, energy services company Baker Hughes Co. said in its closely watched report on Friday that U.S. energy companies reduced the number of oil and natural gas rigs for the third consecutive week this week. .
Data show that the number of oil and natural gas rigs, a leading indicator of future production, fell by 4 to 619 in the week ended October 6. It is the lowest level since February 2022. Compared with the same period last year, the total number of drilling rigs decreased by 143, a decrease of 19%.
This week, the number of U.S. oil rigs fell by 5 to 497, the lowest level since February 2022. The number of natural gas drilling rigs increased by 2 to 118.
U.S. crude oil futures are up about 3% so far this year, and will rise about 7% in 2022. Meanwhile, U.S. natural gas futures prices have fallen about 26% so far this year, after rising about 20% last year.
Drilling companies have cut the number of active rigs for three consecutive quarters as oil prices have fallen sharply since mid-2022. While oil production has returned to pre-pandemic levels, its growth has slowed as it takes about 12 months on average for price changes to affect production changes.
Natural gas production also continues to grow, a lagging response to high oil prices in 2022, largely due to increased interest in drilling for oil in shale basins that also produce large amounts of associated gas, such as those in Texas Top U.S. oil fields in the Permian Basin in the West and eastern New Mexico. However, the subsequent collapse in natural gas prices was more severe and led to a more pronounced slowdown in production growth.
Shale oil companies also try to maintain additional oil production by concentrating fewer rigs on the most promising well locations and drilling for longer periods of time to increase the productivity of individual wells.
Exxon Mobil, the largest U.S. oil producer, is planning to expand its operations in the Permian Basin and is in advanced talks to acquire Pioneer Natural Resources, the basin's third-largest producer, market participants said on Thursday. .
微信扫一扫打赏
