The number of drilling rigs in Midland County remains stable while the U.S. as a whole is declining

Drilling activity posted a third consecutive weekly decline for the first time since early October.

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes, which released its weekly U.S. rig count early due to the Thanksgiving holiday, said the U.S. rig count fell by one rig to 582, the lowest level since September. It is also down 43, or 7%, compared to 625 reported last November. For the month, the rig count fell by three rigs, the second consecutive monthly decline since June.

The number of rigs exploring for crude fell by two rigs to 477, the lowest level since July, and by 28 rigs from 505 the previous November. The number of rigs drilling for natural gas increased by one to 100 rigs, 16 fewer than the previous year (116).

Texas remained unchanged at 281 rigs, down 25 rigs from 306 last year. New Mexico also remained unchanged at 102 rigs. Wyoming was the only producing state where production changed weekly and one rig was hired per week.

Like Texas, the Permian Basin remained flat this week, reporting 303 active rigs across the region. That’s 11 rigs fewer than 314 last year.

Eddy County, New Mexico, remains the most active county in the Permian, reporting 52 rigs in its second week. Lea County, New Mexico, came in second and had 47 rigs in the second week.

Midland County reported 30 rigs for the fourth consecutive year, followed by Reeves County with an unchanged 29 rigs. Martin County had 28 rigs for a fourth week. Loving County had 21 rigs for a second week. Reagan and Upton counties continued to report 12 rigs each, and Ward County had 10 rigs operating within county limits for the second week in a row.

Enverus, an energy-focused software-as-a-service company, said its U.S. rig count fell by seven rigs to 575 in the week ended Nov. 22. That is 75 drilling rigs or 12% fewer than last year (650). The number of rigs drilling for oil fell by two rigs to 153, 231 rigs, or 60% fewer than the 384 rigs reported last November. The number of rigs drilling for natural gas increased by two rigs to 82, but is still at 66 rigs, or 45%, from last year’s 149 rigs.

The top three producers by rig count remained unchanged this week: ExxonMobil remained at 35 rigs, Occidental at 29 and ConocoPhillips at 28 rigs. Diamondback Energy had 18 rigs, one a week.

Enverus’ Permian Basin rig count fell by one to 289 in the week ended Nov. 22, a decline of 27 rigs, or 9%, from 316 a year earlier. The most active play, Delaware, had 166 rigs, down two per week and four rigs, or 3% fewer than 170 last year. In the Midland Basin there were 102 rigs, unchanged for the week and 17 rigs, or 15% less than last year (119).

Looking at the most recent 30-day drilling permits, Enverus said the Permian had 761 permits in the week ending Nov. 8, up from 694 the previous week and 628 the year before. Enverus also reported that the Permian had 87 frac crews in the week ending Nov. 8, up from 98 the previous week and 127 the year before.