Nigeria’s 3-month Rig Count remains Unchanged, as OPEC’s rises by 2

-By Gideon Osaka

Nigeria’s rig count in the last three months has remained unchanged at 14 for the month of June, the same number it recorded in May and April, while the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, appreciated by 2, having recorded 576 in June, as against 574 recorded in May, data from OPEC shows.

World rig count appreciated by 39, in the month of June, as it recorded 2,378, against 2,339 recorded the previous month. Out of the 14 – member OPEC, four, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela had additional 10. Ecuador had an impressive plus 4, as its rig count for June stood at 10, as against 6 it experienced in May. This was followed by Saudi Arabia, which had plus three, having recorded 114 in June, as against 111 recorded the previous month. UAE had plus one, as its count stood at 61, as against 60 recorded the previous month, while Venezuela had plus 2 having recorded 24 in June as against 22 in May. Algeria led the loser’s pack, as it recorded 45 in June against 51 recorded the previous month. It was followed by Iraq, which had 77 in June, as against 75, recorded the previous month. The seven remaining OPEC members had their rig count unchanged within the period under review. Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea had 5, 4, 1, respectively, while Gabon, Iran, Kuwait and Libya had 6, 157, 45 and 15 respectively.

Other African countries had their rig count unchanged, at 51, which was the same number recorded the previous month. Latin American countries had plus 6, as they had 123 in June, as against 117recorded the previous month. Other Middle East countries had unchanged rig count, which stood at 69 within the period under review. The United States of America witnessed minus 16, as it recorded 970 in June, as against 986 recorded in May, while Canada showed a gain of 43, having recorded 113, as against 70, within the period under review. It was noted that the U.S. oil rig count has been on a fairly steady downward trajectory in 2019, after reaching a near-term peak in late 2018. That said, for the first several months of the year, the rig count was still up on a year-over-year basis. That’s clearly no longer the case. As of August 9, there were 764 oil rigs drilling in the U.S., compared to 869 a year earlier. For the U. S, despite this meaningful decline, production currently stands at about 12.3 million barrels per day (bpd), just shy of the all-time high reached earlier this year. Output first reached this level in late April, after beginning 2019 at around 11.7 million bpd. At this time last year, production still hadn’t reached the 11 million bpd mark. Mexico had a loss of 2, as it witnessed 32, against 34, within the period under review. The United Kingdom had its rig count unchanged at 16 within the period under review, while Norway had 18, as against 14 recorded within the period under review. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD Americas recorded an appreciable plus 25, having had a rig count of 1,115 in June, as against 1,090 recorded in the month of May. Also, OECD Asia Pacific recorded plus 3, as it witnessed 32, as against 27 recorded within the period under review. OECD Europe had plus 7 rig count, having recorded 193, as against 186 recorded within the period under review.