US Oil Rig Count Collapses At Fastest Rate In A Year

Rig counts dropped for the 9th straight week, but for the 3rd week in a row, US oil rig counts dropped heavily, down 26 this week after -28, and -31 in the last 2 weeks. The 85 rig drop is a 17% plunge over 3 weeks – the fastest pace since Feb 2015, and 2nd fastest since Feb 2009.

U.S. OIL RIG COUNT DOWN 26 TO 413, BAKER HUGHES SAYS

U.S. TOTAL RIG COUNT DOWN 27 TO 514 , BAKER HUGHES SAYS

Rig counts continue to track the lagged crude price perfectly…

Here is the regional breakdown:

And yet despite this collapse in rig, why Total crude production has barely dropped.

The reason: rig productivity is soaring.

As we explained yesterday, rig counts are meaningless when efficiency improvements leave hardly any impact on production, when imports are soaring, and when even huge CapEx cuts as shown in the following Goldman chart…