US rig count slips further; tariffs set to ‘benefit’ domestic line pipe, OCTG producers

US rig count slips further; tariffs set to ‘benefit’ domestic line pipe, OCTG producers
Published by:Rachel McGuire<>
6 Jun 2025 @ 21:01 UTC

The US oil and gas rig count continued to slip further over the week ended Friday June 6, while the doubled Section 232 tariffs could benefit domestic line pipe producers, sources said. The US rig count fell by four to 559 during the week ended Friday, according to Baker Hughes. The count was also down by 35 from the year before, the data shows. Of the 559 rigs, 442 were for oil and 114 were for gas. The remaining three were labeled as miscellaneous.
Over the week, Texas and Oklahoma each lost two rigs, while Utah’s count fell by one. Louisiana gained one rig.
US line pipe and oil country tubular goods (OCTG) producers will greatly benefit from the higher tariffs, a distributor told Fastmarkets. You currently [cannot] lock in pricing with any mill, the distributor added.
The tariffs, which were raised to 50%on Wednesday June 4 by US President Donald Trump, have the steel industry reeling, sources stated. A trader said domestic mills will take advantage of the tariffs and increase prices.
Fastmarkets’ most recent assessment for steel welded OCTG API 5CT – Casing P110 fob mill US was $2,125-2,175 per short ton on May 14, down by 2.27% from $2,175-2,225 in April.
Also, Fastmarkets assessed the steel OCTG API 5CT – Casing J55, fob mill US at $1,425-1,475 per ton on May 14, down by 3.33% from April.
Tariff uncertainty pressured prices in May, with producers reporting a production freeze as exploration, production and midstream sectors cut capital spending.
But pipeline construction may resume during the Trump administration. Pipeline operator Williams Companies is seeking to reinstate expansion plans for the existing Transco natural gas pipeline system and the Constitution pipeline. The company is in talks with New York and New Jersey officials to restart the projects after facing regulatory headwinds, leading the projects to be canceled.
Separately, Canada added two rigs over the week, bringing the total to 114, despite wildfires in Alberta threatening oil sands production. 56 wildfires currently burn in Alberta, data from the Canadian Interagency Forestry Centre showed. The blazes have shut roughly 7% of oil output in the region, or about 350,000 barrels per day, according to producers in the region.