The decline in the US average land rig day rate, after easing in January, re-accelerated downward in February, according to RigData’s Day Rate Report. All but two of the regions the report tracks for day rates showed a worsening rate of descent, with the overall average day rate falling by -1.8% sequentially in February vs. a month-to-month decrease of -1.2% in January.
For the first quarter of 2016 to date, the US average day rate has fallen sequentially from the prior quarter’s average day rate by a net cumulative -3.8% to $15,447. That already far exceeds the -2% quarter-to-quarter cumulative net decline in 4Q 2015, and there is still March to go.
From a record-high $19,015 in October 2014, the US land rig average day rate has shed about -20% of its value and seems poised to fall below $15,000 for the first time since 2Q 2010. That could happen with a further -2% drop in the average day rate from the February level of $15,306, according to the RigData News & Analysis team.