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U.S. rig count sees biggest drop in six years
Fuel Fix ^ | January 16, 2015 | Ryan Holeywell

Posted on 01/19/2015 4:57:09 AM PST by thackney

More than 40,000 upstream oil and gas jobs in Texas could be lost as energy sector activity here continues to slow, said Karr Ingham, the economist who compiles the monthly Texas Petro Index tracking the industry’s economic indicators.

The latest data point that spells trouble for the industry: data released Friday indicating that that the number of rigs operating in the U.S. was down 74 this week, the rig count’s biggest one-week decline in more than six years.

“We’re now at the point where there’s likely to be some damage inflicted on the Texas economy,” Ingham said. “I’d sure be fine if I was dead wrong, but a turnaround in drilling activity is not on the horizon at this point.

Ingham said the industry suffered 40,000 upstream job losses in Texas when crude oil prices fell as low as $35 per barrel during the 2008-2009 downturn. The last time the rig count fell as dramatically as it did this week was in January 2009, when it fell by 98.

This time, Ingham said, the job losses might even be bigger because the drop in oil prices could be more prolonged.

Texas, which has more rigs operating than any other state, also saw more rigs put down than any state in this week’s report. The state’s rig count was down by 44 to 766 rigs in this week’s report.

Last year’s Texas rig count peaked at 906, but Ingham said that figure could eventually fall in half.

The impact, he said, could mean more than 200,000 job losses for the state, when positions indirectly connected to the industry are included.

Nationally, this week’s plunge marked the third-biggest one-week drop in the history of the rig count, compiled by oilfield service company Baker Hughes since 1987.

Friday’s report was the sixth consecutive week in which the U.S. rig count declined as oil prices have plunged more than 50 percent since their peak in June. Ingham said the rig count could continue to decline weekly for most of the first half of the year.

In an note to investors Friday, energy investment firm Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. noted that the declines were widely expected and occurred broadly — across both public and private companies’ operations and through many different basins.

Ingham said the bad news for the industry won’t stop until production slows dramatically, which isn’t likely to happen soon. “What really needs to happen is production and volume to drop like a stone,” Ingham said. “But production is going to continue to increase — at a slower rate — for months into the future, until it finally peaks.”


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: energy; iran; keystonexl; oil; oilprice; opec; rigcount; ruble; venezuela

1 posted on 01/19/2015 4:57:09 AM PST by thackney
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To: thackney
Part is economy, part is gas prices, and part is horizontal drilling.
2 posted on 01/19/2015 5:03:33 AM PST by bmwcyle (People who do not study history are destine to believe really ignorant statements.)
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To: thackney

Obama bragged about his great recovery, which wasn’t great, but what there was came as a result of Texas and Oklahoma oil men drilling for oil and fracking for gas on private land.

Now the market is tanking for oil and gas. Let’s see how Obama’s economy does the next two years on its own.


3 posted on 01/19/2015 5:17:08 AM PST by txrefugee
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To: thackney
"Lies, damned lies & statistics"

Let's see the numbers of rigs in operation before the "Boom".


4 posted on 01/19/2015 6:49:07 AM PST by BwanaNdege
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To: BwanaNdege
Sure we had been booming for a while. Lots of people hired then. But your trend stops short of the week after week drop that has been going on. Layoffs have been going on for a while now.


5 posted on 01/19/2015 6:56:03 AM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: BwanaNdege

Your linked article shows 899 rigs in operation in Oct. 2014 and this posted
article says the rig count is down to 766 this week.

Rig count Oct 2014:
http://texasalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/85-12-Dec-2014-NewsLine-Petro-Index-FULL-pg-for-website1.pdf


6 posted on 01/19/2015 7:11:33 AM PST by deport
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To: BwanaNdege

Texas alone could lose more than 40,000 upstream oil and gas jobs as drilling activity turns sluggish, said Karr Ingham, the economist who compiles the monthly Texas Petro Index that tracks the industry’s economic indicators. All told, he said, this oil bust might cost Texas 200,000 jobs across all industries.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Hard-year-looms-for-oil-despite-a-good-day-for-6021402.php#/0


7 posted on 01/19/2015 7:20:51 AM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

“Nationally, this week’s plunge marked the third-biggest one-week drop in the history of the rig count, compiled by oilfield service company Baker Hughes since 1987.”

Hughes Tool began the weekly rig count in the late 1940’s. 1987 might have been about the time they merged with Baker


8 posted on 01/19/2015 7:31:26 AM PST by Figment
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To: thackney
Texas alone could lose more than 40,000 upstream oil and gas jobs as drilling activity turns sluggish,

as part of a large midstream transporter, I'm a little nervous too.

9 posted on 01/19/2015 7:32:49 AM PST by showme_the_Glory ((ILLEGAL: prohibited by law. ALIEN: Owing political allegiance to another country or government))
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To: showme_the_Glory

While midstream construction might slow, I don’t see us using less with a price drop so operations should not go down, probably, maybe...


10 posted on 01/19/2015 7:33:59 AM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: Figment

Baker Hughes was formed in 1987 with the merger of Baker International and Hughes Tool Company — both founded over 100 years ago when R.C. Baker and Howard Hughes, Sr. conceived ground-breaking inventions that revolutionized the fledgling petroleum era.

http://www.bakerhughes.com/company/about/about-baker-hughes-corporate-profile


11 posted on 01/19/2015 7:35:34 AM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

Already seeing some producers backing down, shutting out some leases. I’m strapped in and holding on tight for the ride.


12 posted on 01/19/2015 8:15:36 AM PST by showme_the_Glory ((ILLEGAL: prohibited by law. ALIEN: Owing political allegiance to another country or government))
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