Following the launch of its weekly oil and gas monitor, which tracks onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico (GoM) rig activity in light of the oil price crash, Gaffney, Cline & Associates (GCA) has revealed the largest week on week unit drop in six years.

Using the Baker Hughes rig count, GCA noted a fall of 74 in the US onshore rig number, making the total decline, from a year high of 1,876 in November 2014, to 254 with 1,622 rigs on 16 January 2015.

This places the index[1] for US onshore rigs at 90, compared to 94 the previous week. The index for Brent improved one point to $46 per barrel during the week.

GCA executive director and senior strategic advisor Bob George commented: “The fall in the number of onshore rigs this week can be compared to the fall seen during the last oil price crash in 2008-2009. The trends seen this time are similar to then, although we are at an earlier stage in the cycle, relatively speaking.

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