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Texas and Alaska Witness a Fall in Onshore Drilling Rigs
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In its weekly release, Baker Hughes , a GE company, reported rig count decline in the United States.
About the Rig Count
Baker Hughes’ data, which is issued at the end of every week since 1944, helps energy service providers gauge the overall business environment of the oil and gas industry.
A change in the Houston-based oilfield services player’s rotary rig count impacts demand for energy services like drilling, completion and production provided by firms like Halliburton Company (HAL - Free Report) , Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB - Free Report) , Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (DO - Free Report) and Transocean Ltd. (RIG - Free Report) .
Details
Weekly Summary: Rigs engaged in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas in the United States totaled 1059 in the week ended Jun 15 and fell from 1062 in the previous week. This decline was a first as the tally rose for 10 weeks in a row.
Despite rig count slipping to an all-time low of 404 in May 2016, it has been rising rapidly in U.S. shale resources. The current national rig count is considerably higher than the prior-year level of 933.
For the week under review, the fall in rig count can be attributed to lower onshore operations. The number of onshore rigs totaled 1035, down from 1039. However, the number of rigs operating in the inland waters was four last week, higher than three for the week ended Jun 8. Also, the tally for offshore rigs was recorded at 20, in line with the prior week’s tally.
Oil Rig Count: Oil rig count was 863, up from 862 for the week ended Jun 8. Moreover, the current tally, though far from the peak of 1,609 attained in October 2014, is significantly higher than last year’s 747.
Natural Gas Rig Count: The natural gas rig count of 194 is lower than 198 for the week ended Jun 8. Per the recent report, the number of natural gas-directed rigs is 88% below the all-time high of 1,606 in 2008.
However, like oil, the count of rigs exploring gas is above the year-ago tally of 186.
Rig Count by Type: The number of vertical drilling rigs totaled 60 units, down from 61 units. Along with that, the horizontal/directional rig count (encompassing new drilling technology that has the ability to drill and extract gas from dense rock formations, also known as shale formations), fell by two units to 999.
Gulf of Mexico (GoM): The GoM rig count is at 19 units, of which 16 were oil-directed. The count is in line with the tally for the week ended Jun 8.
Conclusion
The number of total rigs exploring in the United States declined due to the removal of four onshore rigs in Texas and two in Alaska.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude continues to hover around $65-a-barrel psychological mark. Investors are waiting for the OPEC meetings on Jun 22, 2018, when the major crude producers including Russia will decide on extension or relaxation of the earlier-signed production curb deal. In other words, the outcome of the OPEC meetings is likely to provide new direction to oil price.
Meanwhile, investors can buy two energy stocks with strong growth prospects per our proprietary model. To identity stocks with good growth prospects, we rely on our new style score system.
Our Growth Style Score condenses all the essential metrics from the company’s financial statements to get a true sense of the quality and sustainability of its growth. Our research shows that stocks with Growth Style Scores of A or B when combined Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) offer the best investment opportunities in the growth investing space.
Based on the above criteria, we have selected two stocks — Continental Resources, Inc. and Oasis Petroleum Inc. — that look promising. The stocks carry a Growth Score of A and sport a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Continental Resources is projected to post earnings growth of 517.7% in 2018.
Oasis Petroleum has surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the prior four quarters, the average positive earnings surprise being 74.9%.
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Texas and Alaska Witness a Fall in Onshore Drilling Rigs
In its weekly release, Baker Hughes , a GE company, reported rig count decline in the United States.
About the Rig Count
Baker Hughes’ data, which is issued at the end of every week since 1944, helps energy service providers gauge the overall business environment of the oil and gas industry.
A change in the Houston-based oilfield services player’s rotary rig count impacts demand for energy services like drilling, completion and production provided by firms like Halliburton Company (HAL - Free Report) , Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB - Free Report) , Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (DO - Free Report) and Transocean Ltd. (RIG - Free Report) .
Details
Weekly Summary: Rigs engaged in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas in the United States totaled 1059 in the week ended Jun 15 and fell from 1062 in the previous week. This decline was a first as the tally rose for 10 weeks in a row.
Despite rig count slipping to an all-time low of 404 in May 2016, it has been rising rapidly in U.S. shale resources. The current national rig count is considerably higher than the prior-year level of 933.
For the week under review, the fall in rig count can be attributed to lower onshore operations. The number of onshore rigs totaled 1035, down from 1039. However, the number of rigs operating in the inland waters was four last week, higher than three for the week ended Jun 8. Also, the tally for offshore rigs was recorded at 20, in line with the prior week’s tally.
Oil Rig Count: Oil rig count was 863, up from 862 for the week ended Jun 8. Moreover, the current tally, though far from the peak of 1,609 attained in October 2014, is significantly higher than last year’s 747.
Natural Gas Rig Count: The natural gas rig count of 194 is lower than 198 for the week ended Jun 8. Per the recent report, the number of natural gas-directed rigs is 88% below the all-time high of 1,606 in 2008.
However, like oil, the count of rigs exploring gas is above the year-ago tally of 186.
Rig Count by Type: The number of vertical drilling rigs totaled 60 units, down from 61 units. Along with that, the horizontal/directional rig count (encompassing new drilling technology that has the ability to drill and extract gas from dense rock formations, also known as shale formations), fell by two units to 999.
Gulf of Mexico (GoM): The GoM rig count is at 19 units, of which 16 were oil-directed. The count is in line with the tally for the week ended Jun 8.
Conclusion
The number of total rigs exploring in the United States declined due to the removal of four onshore rigs in Texas and two in Alaska.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude continues to hover around $65-a-barrel psychological mark. Investors are waiting for the OPEC meetings on Jun 22, 2018, when the major crude producers including Russia will decide on extension or relaxation of the earlier-signed production curb deal. In other words, the outcome of the OPEC meetings is likely to provide new direction to oil price.
Meanwhile, investors can buy two energy stocks with strong growth prospects per our proprietary model. To identity stocks with good growth prospects, we rely on our new style score system.
Our Growth Style Score condenses all the essential metrics from the company’s financial statements to get a true sense of the quality and sustainability of its growth. Our research shows that stocks with Growth Style Scores of A or B when combined Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) offer the best investment opportunities in the growth investing space.
Based on the above criteria, we have selected two stocks — Continental Resources, Inc. and Oasis Petroleum Inc. — that look promising. The stocks carry a Growth Score of A and sport a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Continental Resources is projected to post earnings growth of 517.7% in 2018.
Oasis Petroleum has surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the prior four quarters, the average positive earnings surprise being 74.9%.
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies
It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
See Them Free>>