The slow rebound in the US oilfields has ground to a halt after eight weeks of adding drilling rigs. The number of rigs actively drilling for oil stayed flat from last week, while the number of natural gas-seeking rigs slipped by two, according to weekly data compiled by the Baker Hughes oilfield services firm, Fuel Fix reported. The total US rig count now is 489, up from an all-time low of 404 in May, according to Baker Hughes. Of the total, 406 of them are primarily drilling for oil. But the oil rig count is down 75% from its peak of 1,609 in October 2014, before oil prices began plummeting. The only area where the count is still increasing is in west Texas’ resilient Permian Basin, which added three rigs and now contains almost half of the nation’s active oil rigs. Texas’ Eagle Ford and Barnett shale regions both lost one rig apiece as the former has seen the biggest exodus of rigs.
