Fracking crews are increasing their activity in U.S. shale basins, finishing off a slew of DUC wells, according to the EIA’s latest Monthly Drilling Report. As oil and gas companies focus on finishing off wells they’ve already drilled, on the sidelines, observers are wondering whether this is a fluke or whether the industry has really learned its lesson about drilling rigs that they do not intend to complete. Are we seeing typical industry behavior, which may indicate that we are in for another DUC increase now that drilling activity has picked up? Tackling the Fracklog The way to describe the DUC count is a “ fracklog” because it measures the number of wells that have been drilled but not yet completed—essentially creating a backlog of half-finished wells that are not producing oil or gas. The higher the DUC count, the more money oil companies have spent drilling wells that […]