Market Snapshot: Low oil and natural gas prices cause rig activity to drop

The National Energy Board reports that Western Canadian rig activity typically peaks in the winter, when the ground is frozen and rigs can move into areas they normally cannot access during the rest of the year.

But based on seasonal fluctuations, low oil and natural gas prices have caused western Canada’s rig activity to fall significantly over the past two years, according to the NEB “Market Snapshot: Western Canadian drilling activity falls more than 75% from two years ago.”

The NEB reports that during the summer of 2016, the number of rigs drilling wells had fallen 50 per cent from 2015 summer levels, and more than 60 per cent from 2014 summer levels.

Access the complete snapshot of rig activity at www.neb-one.gc.ca.

Source: National Energy Board