Oil, Gas Drilling Slows To 19-Month Low In U.S.

The total number of active drilling rigs in the United States fell by 11 this week, after seeing a brief 9-rig rise last week, according to new data from Baker Hughes published Friday. It is the fewest number of active drilling rigs since February 4, 2022. The total rig count fell to 630 this week. So far this year, Baker Hughes has estimated a loss of 149 active drilling rigs.

This week’s count is 445 fewer rigs than the rig count at the beginning of 2019 prior to the pandemic. The number of oil rigs fell by 8 this week to 507, down by 114…