Basin rig count down two as prices hold

May 10—The rig count in the Permian Basin was down two this week, the latest count Friday by Baker Hughes shows, with 314 rigs active in the region. A year ago, 353 rigs were active in the region.

Nationally, the oil and gas rig count is down two from last week at 603 rigs. A year ago, 731 rigs were active. The count shows that 496 rigs sought oil, down three from the previous week, and 103 explored for natural gas, up one from the previous week. The count also shows four 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 $74.74 per barrel, up 15 cents from last Friday's close. National benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude ended at $78.26 per barrel, up 15 cents from the previous week.