The number of rigs actively drilling for oil in the US dipped by another 10 this week, reports fuelfix.com—and the biggest losses came from the Lone Star State. That includes four rigs lost in the Granite Wash shale play of the Texas Panhandle. This leaves only four active rigs in the entire shale region.
Even so, Texas is still home to 45 percent of the nation’s operating rigs. The US oil rig count now stands at 362, while the natural gas rig count declined by four rigs down to just 88. That brings the total rig count to 450, which is a new low, beating the former record low of 488. The previous low occurred in 1999. Rig counts began being recorded in 1944.
Despite the drop in rig count, oil production is only down by four percent compared to 12 months ago.