Rig count falls as activity dips in North Dakota's Bakken shale [View all]

Slowing activity in North Dakota's Bakken shale triggered a dip in the nationwide tally of active drilling rigs.

Both the nation's and North Dakota's rig counts fell by eight rigs as the Bakken was essentially single-handedly responsible for the decline, according to the weekly drilling data collected by the Houston services firm Baker Hughes, a GE company.

Of the total tally of 946 rigs, 776 are primarily drilling for oil with the rest seeking natural gas.

The drilling rig count is at its lowest point since the beginning of 2018, and the oil rig tally is down 13 percent from its 2018 peak in November.

But Texas and the Permian are still dominating the industry. Texas has 454 active rigs, nearly half of the nation's total. And the Permian's 443 rigs account for nearly 60 percent of all the rigs drilling for crude oil.

Read more: https://www.mysanantonio.com/business/energy/article/Rig-count-falls-as-activity-dips-in-North-14187817.php