
American Drilling Rig Count Falls Below 1,000 — Texas Down by 513
The “Baker Hughes Rig Count” shows the oil & gas drilling rig count has plummeted in the past year. The month April is the first time in 25 years the North American oil and gas drilling rig count has fallen below 1,000 rigs. The price of crude oil in the past year had fallen as much as 50%. Many expensive shale oil wells have become uneconomical at current crude oil prices. Much of the US crude oil increased production comes from shale oil formations with expensive horizontal drilling. Shale oil formations often must be fracked several times; consequently, productions costs are high.