Total rigs down 1 for the March 13 week
The Baker Hughes rig count data for the week is not showing any immediate reaction to the plunge in crude oil prices as a result of the Russian/Saudi Arabian production war.
For the week:
- Total rig count at 792 vs 793 last week
- Oil rigs 683 versus 682 last week
- Gas rigs 107 versus 109 last week
The price of crude oil futures are trading up $0.77 or 2.38% at $34. The high price today reached $33.87. The low was down at $30.33
Looking at the trend in the total rig count, the high water mark from 2019 came in at 1083. The recent low reached 783. There is a lot of room to the downside as the expensive rigs come off line (absent a save from the government in the form of subsidies).
Below is the price of crude oil over the same time period of the rig count. The price of crude is below the lowest level going back to March 2016, yet the rig count is much higher. Perhaps some rigs stay online at a loss (there may be a cost to close down, it takes time to do it, the hope might be for a rebound soon), but there should be a continuation lower the longer prices stays down at the current levels.
