The U.S. rig count increased by two during the first week of the new year as oil prices approached $80 a barrel. 

The U.S. rig count increased by two during the first week of the new year as oil prices approached $80 a barrel. 

The number of drilling rigs operating nationally rose to 588 after one land rig and one offshore rig were added, according to oilfield services firm Baker Hughes. 

Drillers added 235 rigs in 2021, but the number of rigs in operation remains far below the peak of almost 1,100 at the end of 2018 and the 790 rigs operating pre-pandemic. The rig count is a leading indicator of the nation’s oil and gas production.  

Drillers appear to be shrugging off concerns about the Omicron variant, which has resulted in renewed lockdowns and travel restrictions in some countries. Crude prices have been rising this week, before falling on Friday morning. 

DRILLING: Oil companies last year made fewest discoveries since 1946 

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude benchmark, was trading at $78.97 midday Friday, down 49 cents from Thursday. 

Drillers pulled three rigs in Texas this week, lowering the state’s count to 274. One rig was pulled out of the Permian Basin, lowering the count to 292. The count in the Haynesville of East Texas and the Eagle Ford of South Texas held steady at 49 and 44 rigs, respectively.    

Enverus expects the rig count in the lower-48 states to approach 600 in 2022, double the tally at the start of 2021 but still well below the recent peak of nearly 1,000 rigs at the start of 2019.

“We’re getting more and more efficient,” Jonathan Godwin, senior associate at Enverus, said last month. “Rigs have gotten bigger, they’re able to drill more feet per day and our scheduling has gotten a lot better. We need fewer rigs in order to increase production.”

Paul Takahashi is a former business reporter for the Houston Chronicle.

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