Despite increased demand, crude prices retreated in December on continued concerns over the rapid spread of the Covid omicron variant and uncertainty about the global economy. WTI and Brent crude fell 9.4% and 8.5%, respectively, to trade at $71.71 and $74.17/bbl. Despite lower oil prices, U.S. drilling activity surged 3.4%, with an average 579 rigs working in December. The largest gain was in Texas, which experienced an increase of nine rigs to average 275. New Mexico added eight for a total of 91. U.S. drillers continued to work down the DUC backlog. In December, there were 4,616 DUCs in the U.S., 37% fewer than the year ago tally of 7,298. DUCs in the Permian stood at 1,446 in December, a 59% decrease on a y-o-y basis. International activity averaged 984 rigs in November, 18 more than in October.
- Applying ultra-deep LWD resistivity technology successfully in a SAGD operation (May 2019)
- Adoption of wireless intelligent completions advances (May 2019)
- Majors double down as takeaway crunch eases (April 2019)
- What’s new in well logging and formation evaluation (April 2019)
- Qualification of a 20,000-psi subsea BOP: A collaborative approach (February 2019)
- ConocoPhillips’ Greg Leveille sees rapid trajectory of technical advancement continuing (February 2019)
