Environment and Energy
July 24, 2015
Active Oil & Gas Rig Counts Show Improvement
Written by Brett Linton
According to Baker Hughes data from July 24, 2015, the U.S rig count for the week was 876 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This is up 19 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 21 to 659 rigs, gas rigs down 2 to 216 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1 rig. Compared to this time last year, the 876 count is down 1,007 rigs, with oil rigs down 903, gas rigs down 102, and miscellaneous rigs down 2.
The decline in the drilling of new gas and oil wells is having a direct impact on the amount of line pipe, storage tanks, and OCTG that is being used by the energy sector. A good portion of these products come from hot rolled coil or plate substrate, and are reasons for both the short lead times on hot rolled and plate at North American steel producers and the falling steel prices we have seen going back to mid-2014. Prices have since stabilized for hot rolled coil but the product is having a difficult time breaking out of a very narrow trading range partially due to the weakness in the energy sector.
