The U.S. active fracture (frack) spread count is climbing, with gains of up to 6% already this month from September, according to Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.

DUCs

In a preliminary note to clients, the analyst team said well completions activity is climbing in the Lower 48 since the start of the month. The domestic active spread count two-thirds through October “looks to have climbed 5-6%” from September. It was up by 16-18% month/month (m/m) in September, analysts said.

“Anecdotes indicate that individual frack spread utilization also continued to climb m/m as it did in September on the heels of a ‘spotty-ish’ August,” said the TPH analysts. 

The Permian Basin “drove more than half of the m/m increase,” but there also were “small, absolute additions” in the...