Recent DUC Increase

Early this am, we published our normal update of data, with a recent, relatively large increase in DUCs:

Most of this was in West-TX:
We examined all of the pads that were different between the last run and this run, and the difference was almost entirely based on new state-reported spud dates that correlate to minor activity on the pads.  These are not full-size drilling rigs. For example, for this pad in Howard county, TX, from Oxy, we see a "proper" rig very recently (end Apr):

But this has a early Jan spud date just reported from the state: this is what was there at that time.  This isn't even as big as a work-over rig.

Our speculation is that this was a "Spudder Rig" - i.e. just drills the beginning of the well.  We were asked if this might have been to hold the permit open for pending expiry:  But this theory doesn't bear out when looking at the permit dates, AND the process of renewing a permit is trivial, that can't be the explanation.

But we can say for sure is that these spud dates do not reflect the presence of rigs that that could ever drill these wells to production depth and length.

This actually happens often:  It's one of the reasons we often see DUC count revisions in the past.  However, this is the first time we've seen such a concentration in time and place.

As usual, contact support@synmax.com with questions.