Two oil rigs added, seven gas rigs added during the week

The U.S. rig count remained steady over the last week at 524 oil and gas rigs operating, according to Enverus. Overall, the count is up 5% on the month and up 39% year-over-year as there are currently about twice as many companies drilling wells now compared to a year ago.

The most active operator continues to be Permian-focused Pioneer Natural Resources Co. at 30 rigs, which includes nine more rigs after acquiring privately held DoublePoint Energy in a transaction that closed on May 4. The most active private operators are Mewbourne Oil at 11 (up five), Endeavor Energy Resources at 10 (up eight) and Aethon Energy at eight (up one).

Oil rigs operating in the U.S. rose by two this week, while gas rigs rose by seven, which is the most in a week since December 2018 and the highest since March 2020. WTI crude futures in the U.S. were trading around $65/bbl on May 7, putting the contract up about 34% so far this year after they dropped about 21% last year.

Increases have been small, with most firms focusing on shareholder returns over volume growth and drilling captivity has been growing moderately.

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