Mar. 21—The rig count in the Permian Basin was down one this week, the latest count Friday by Baker Hughes shows, with 300 rigs active in the region. A year ago, 315 rigs were active in the region.
Nationally, the oil and gas rig count is up one from last week at 593 rigs. A year ago, 624 rigs were active. The count shows that 486 rigs sought oil, down one from the previous week, and 102 explored for natural gas, up two from the previous week. The count also shows five miscellaneous rigs, unchanged from the previous week.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out in August of 2020 at 244.
The regional benchmark Plains-West Texas Intermediate Posting ended Friday at $64.76 per barrel, up $1.10 from last Friday's close. National benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude ended at $68.28 per barrel, up $1.10 from the previous week.