The latest drilling dive continued during the week ended Feb. 19, with the US rig count shedding 27 units to bring the current total to 514, Baker Hughes Inc. reported. All but one of those units targeted oil. Over the past 3 weeks alone, the count has plunged 105 units. Compared with the recent peak during Sept. 12-26, 2014, the count is down 1,417 units. Exploration and production firms have entered 2016 with slashed budgets and improved efficiencies, reflected in the double-digit drop-off in rigs in each of the first 7 weeks of the year. As such, financial services firm Raymond James & Associates Inc. last week further reduced its forecast US rig counts for 2016-18, now projecting an average 2016 count of 500, down nearly half compared with the 2015 average (OGJ Online, Feb. 12, 2016). The new bottom is expected occur in April at 400 units. The nadir of the 1998-99 downturn was 488 units on Apr. 23, 1999, which also represents the low point in BHI data dating back to July 1987. During the 2008-09 downturn, the lowest point was 876 on June 12, 2009. RJA doesn’t see a drilling rebound until late 2016, as many E&P firms are likely to first focus on drawing down their uncompleted well inventories and improving their balance sheets, while waiting for consistently higher crude oil prices and a labor force recovery.