U.S. Rig Count Increases For The Fourth Consecutive Month

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE:BHI) recently declared the rig count for Sep 2016. In the U.S., the total number of rigs increased from the Aug 2016 count owing to higher number of land rigs. This represents the fourth consecutive increase in the U.S. monthly rig count.

Analysis of the Data

North AmericaRig Count

Total rig count in North America – U.S. and Canada – for the month of Sep 2016 was 650, higher than the Aug 2016 count of 610 but lower than 1,031 in Sep 2015.

U.S.rig: Total number of rigs in the U.S. was 509; higher than 481 rigs in August but much lower than 848 in Sep 2015.

Of the total U.S. rigs, land rigs were 491. This is higher than the 464 rigs in Aug 2016 but much lesser than 816 rigs in Sep 2015.

The number of U.S. offshore rigs for Sep 2016 was 18, up from 17 rigs in August but down from 32 in Sep 2015.

Canada rig: In Canada, the total rig count was 141, higher than 129 rigs in Aug 2016 but much lower than 183 counted in Sep 2015.

International Rig Count

Total international rig – offshore and land – count for the month of September came in at 934, down by three from Aug and sharply below the 1,140 count in Sep 2015.

Offshore rig: The offshore rig count for Sep 2016 was 221, slightly lower than 228 in August and 268 in the prior-year comparable month.

Land Rig: The land rig count was 713, higher than the Aug 2016 count of 709 but lower than the Sep 2015 count of 872.

Oils-Energy Sector Price Index

Oils-Energy Sector Price Index

Conclusion

The Baker Hughes data, issued since 1944, is as an important yardstick for energy service providers in gauging the overall business environment of the oil and gas industry. Baker Hughes currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

An increase or decrease in the Baker Hughes rotary rig count heavily weighs on demand for oil energy services – drilling, completion, production, etc. – provided by companies that include names like Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL) , Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE:SLB) , Weatherford International plc (NYSE:WFT) , Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE:DO) , and Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) .

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