Although US land rig day rates continued to fall in April, there is a glimmer of hope that the bottom might be near—or a more marginal rate of decline in an already devastated market, according to RigData’s Day Rate Report.
The US average day rate, aggregated across all rig classes and regions, decreased by -1% in April vs. March. At $14,986 in April, the average day rate for all US land rigs has fallen below $15,000 for the first time since peaking at more than $19,000 in October 2014 and the first time overall since 1Q 2010.
The April fall improved on March’s drop of -1.6% and Q1’s monthly average decline of -1.5%; it was also the third consecutive month in which the outcome was better than its predecessor report. Still, it must be kept in perspective, as 4Q 2015 yielded a net cumulative decrease of -3.2%, whereas 1Q 2016 produced a net cume drop of -4.6%.
Other than the horrific collapse of -8.6% in 2Q 2015, 1Q 2016 was the worst in terms of day rate sequential decline since the 2009 downturn.
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