The closing settlement on the February's was $5.557 after trading over $5.70 in their last hour of life.
The Baker Hughes rig count via WTRG Economics:
North American Rotary Rig Counts
The U.S. rotary rig count was unchanged at 1,777 for the week of January 24, 2014. It is 28 rigs (1.4%) higher than last year.
The number of rotary rigs drilling for oil was up 8 at 1,416. There 101 more rigs targeting oil than last year. Rigs drilling for oil represent 79.7 percent of all drilling activity.
Rigs directed toward natural gas were down 9 at 356. The number of rigs currently drilling for gas is 78 lower than last year's level of 429.
Year-over-year oil exploration in the U.S. is up 7.7 percent. Gas exploration is down 18.0 percent. The weekly average of crude oil spot prices is 0.5 percent lower than last year and natural gas spot prices are 40.1 percent higher than last year. Daily crude oil and natural gas futures and spot prices are available on our site.
Canadian rig activity is up 25 at 590 for the week of January 24, 2014 and is 31 (5.0%) lower than last year's rig count. The number of rigs drilling for oil was up 15 at 394 and is 80 (16.9%) lower than last year. Gas directed rig count at 196 is up 10 and is 49 rigs (33.3%) higher than last year. Canadian drilling falls rapidly in the spring to avoid environmental damage moving drilling equipment during the spring thaw and rainy season. With wide weather related seasonal swings, even year-over-year comparisons can lead to incorrect conclusions.
| North American Rig
Count |
Change |
Percent Change | |||||
| 01/24/2014 | 01/17/2014 | 01/25/2013 | Weekly | Annual | Weekly | Annual | |
| Total U.S. | 1,777 | 1,777 | 1,753 | 0 | 24 | 0.0% | 1.4% |
| Offshore | 56 | 57 | 52 | (1) | 4 | -1.8% | 7.7% |
| Land | 1,721 | 1,720 | 1,701 | 1 | 20 | 0.1% | 1.2% |
| Inland Waters | 20 | 20 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0.0% | 11.1% |
| Oil | 1,416 | 1,408 | 1,315 | 8 | 101 | 0.6% | 7.7% |
| Percent | 79.7% | 79.2% | 75.0% | 0.5% | 4.7% | ||
| Gas | 356 | 365 | 434 | (9) | (78) | -2.5% | -18.0% |
| Percent | 20.0% | 20.5% | 24.8% | -0.5% | -4.7% | ||
| Directional | 211 | 219 | 181 | -8 | 30 | -3.7% | 16.6% |
| Horizontal | 1,170 | 1,173 | 1,127 | -3 | 43 | -0.3% | 3.8% |
| Vertical | 396 | 385 | 445 | 11 | -49 | 2.9% | -11.0% |
| Gulf of Mexico | 56 | 55 | 51 | 1 | 5 | 1.8% | 9.8% |
| Gulf Oil | 40 | 40 | 37 | 0 | 3 | 0.0% | 8.1% |
| Percent | 71.4% | 72.7% | 72.5% | -1.3% | -1.1% | ||
| Gulf Gas | 16 | 15 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 6.7% | 14.3% |
| Percent | 28.6% | 27.3% | 27.5% | 1.3% | 1.1% | ||
| Canada | 590 | 565 | 621 | 25 | (31) | 4.4% | -5.0% |
| Oil | 394 | 379 | 474 | 15 | (80) | 4.0% | -16.9% |
| Percent | 66.8% | 67.1% | 76.3% | -0.3% | -9.5% | ||
| Gas | 196 | 186 | 147 | 10 | 49 | 5.4% | 33.3% |
| Percent | 33.2% | 32.9% | 23.7% | 0.3% | 9.5% | ||
| North America | 2,367 | 2,342 | 2,374 | 25 | (7) | 1.1% | -0.3% |
| Prices |
|||||||
| Oil $/bbl. | $96.32 | $93.34 | $95.83 | $2.98 | $0.49 | 3.2% | 0.5% |
| Oil $/mmbtu | $16.61 | $16.09 | $16.52 | $0.51 | $0.08 | 3.2% | 0.5% |
| Gas $/mmbtu | $4.93 | $4.38 | $3.52 | $0.56 | $1.41 | 12.7% | 40.1% |
Monthly: International Rig Counts...
You have to go back to 1995 to see that small a number of rigs directed at gas:
In October the EIA pointed out, in "Rethinking rig count as a predictor of natural gas production", that because of horizontal drilling and fracking the numbers aren't directly comparable but a trend is still a trend.
See also the intro to "Natural Gas Prices Strongly Higher on Arrival of Cold Spell" for some discussion of the interplay between prices and drilling.
