CHICAGO, May 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI), Transocean Inc. (RIG), Diamond Offshore (DO), Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) and Helmerich & Payne (HP).
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Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:
Nat Gas Drilling Hits New 10-Yr Low
In its weekly release, Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) reported a rise in the U.S. rig count (number of rigs searching for oil and gas in the country). This can be attributed to an increase in the tally of oil-directed rigs, partially offset by cutbacks in natural gas rig count.
In particular, the natural gas rig count dropped for the fifteenth time in 17 weeks to touch a new 10-year low, while oil drilling jumped to another 25-year high.
The Baker Hughes rig count, issued since 1944, acts as an important yardstick for drilling contractors such as Transocean Inc. (RIG), Diamond Offshore (DO), Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN), Helmerich & Payne (HP), etc. in gauging the overall business environment of the oil and gas industry.
Analysis of the Data
Weekly Summary: Rigs engaged in exploration and production in the U.S. totaled 1,965 for the week ended May 4, 2012. This was up by 20 from the previous week's count and represents the sixth increase in the last 12 weeks.
The current nationwide rig count is more than double that of the 6-year low of 876 (in the week ended June 12, 2009) and significantly exceeds the prior-year level of 1,836. It rose to a 22-year high in 2008, peaking at 2,031 in the weeks ending August 29 and September 12.
Rigs engaged in land operations climbed by 21 to 1,899, while offshore drilling was down by 1 to 44 rigs. Meanwhile, inland waters activity remained steady at 22 units.
Natural Gas Rig Count: The natural gas rig count decreased for the fifteenth time in 17 weeks to 606 (a drop of 7 rigs from the previous week). As per the most recent report, the number of gas-directed rigs is at their lowest level since April 5, 2002 and is down more than 35% from its 2011 peak of 936, reached during mid-October.
The current natural gas rig count remains 62% below its all-time high of 1,606 reached in late summer 2008. In the year-ago period, there were 890 active natural gas rigs.
Oil Rig Count: The oil rig count was up by 27 to 1,355. The current tally – the highest since Baker Hughes started breaking up oil and natural gas rig counts in 1987 – is way above the previous year's rig count of 934. It has recovered strongly from a low of 179 in June 2009, rising almost 7.6 times.
Miscellaneous Rig Count: The miscellaneous rig count (primarily drilling for geothermal energy) at 4 remained unchanged from the previous week.
Rig Count by Type: The number of vertical drilling rigs rose by 10 to 573, while 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) was up by 10 at 1,392. In particular, horizontal rig units – that reached an all-time high of 1,185 in January this year – increased by 19 from last week's level to 1,158.
To Conclude
As mentioned above, the natural gas rig count has been falling since the last few weeks, 328 rigs in fact (or 35%) from the recent highs of 934 in October 28.
Is this bullish for natural gas fundamentals? The answer is "no," if we look at the U.S. production and the shift in rig composition.
With horizontal rig count – the technology responsible for the abundant gas drilling in domestic shale basins – currently close to its all-time high, output from these fields remains robust. As a result, gas inventories still remain at elevated levels – up some 50% above the benchmark five-year average levels.
Hamstrung by this huge surplus, natural gas prices have dropped more than 50% from 2011 peak of $4.92 per million Btu (MMBtu) in June to the current level of around $2.35 (referring to spot prices at the Henry Hub, the benchmark supply point in Louisiana). Incidentally, prices hit a 10-year low of $1.82 last month.
To make matters worse, a near-record mild weather across most of the country curbed natural gas demand for heating all winter, leading to an early beginning for the stock-building season. The grossly oversupplied market continues to pressure commodity prices in the backdrop of sustained strong production.
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