presentation. I would like to note that this conference call will contain forward-looking statements. Words such as expects, anticipates, intends, estimates, or similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and these statements are based on our current plans and expectations, and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause future activities and results of operations to be materially different from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. You should therefore not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. More can be found under our Disclaimer section in this presentation. So with that said, Marty, please go ahead.
Thank you, Marius, and good afternoon or good morning, wherever you may be today, and thank you for joining us. On page three, we'll begin there. WTI began the quarter trading at around $84 and finished the quarter around $82. Since quarter end, WTI has dropped somewhat. As recently as this morning, it's currently trading around $74. U.S. rig counts decreased 34, and Permian rig counts decreased by 7 during the quarter. This is impacted by the U.S. and Permian activity as a result of continued operator discipline being demonstrated by the E&Ps, as well as mergers and acquisitions among private and public operators that have led to lower counts and put additional pressure on day rates upon renewals. Revenue for the quarter was $24.9 million, essentially flat with the previous quarter.
Our second quarter revenue was impacted by lower utilization, offset by higher add-on and reimbursable revenue. Our fleet utilization declined to 85.9% in the second quarter, compared to 87.5% in the prior quarter, primarily attributable to M&A activities previously mentioned. I would like to highlight that our utilization was 99.0%, while our rigs were under contract in the second quarter. We are extremely pleased to have transitioned three of our rigs during the second quarter from operators acquired in previously announced mergers to new customers, which reinforces the demand for our quality rigs, like our pure ultra-super spec fleet. Our clean day rate decreased by 3% to $25,600 per day.
Excluding reimbursables, we also typically earn another $2,000-$3,000 per day for extra crews, equipment rentals, oil-based drilling, which we earn incremental gross profit above our cost on those items. Adjusted EBITDA, defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, plus non-cash stock option expense, was $4.8 million, down $1.9 million from the previous quarter. We did experience an increase in repair and maintenance expenses during the second quarter as a result of equipment recertification, recertifications, and various equipment repairs. We reported net income after tax of -$300,000 or 1% per fully diluted share. Our current backlog is $25.4 million and continues to at this pace. Nine of our rigs are currently under operating under contracts of at least six months. We do have a couple beyond that.
The tenth rig that is under contract is on a pad-to-pad contract and has been contracted with the same customer for several years. Let's turn to page four, and we'll discuss recent events and our outlook. As committed, we continue to distribute excess free cash flow above our minimum liquidity in a form of monthly dividends. We have now distributed monthly dividends in 21 consecutive months. Our latest monthly distribution of $0.04 per share implies an attractive 13% annual yield. During the second quarter of 2024 , as mentioned previously, rig counts in the Permian decreased by 7 or 2.2%. The current Permian rig count currently sits just above 300 rigs at 307. U.S. rig counts continued to decline well above that during the second quarter.
Based upon our current customer discussions, we expect rig counts in the second half of 2024 to be relatively flat, given the current environment for WTI prices. Some operators expect activity to be flat through the remainder of 2024 , while a few operators have signaled that they could reduce their second half CapEx spend in situations where they are running ahead of planned expenditures and production.... We continue to pursue opportunities for our idle rig, with certain customers looking to add a rig or two, or high-grade an existing rig toward the end of 2024 or early 2025 . Natural gas prices continue to impact the total U.S. rig counts. Natural gas began the second quarter at $1.84, and traded a high of $3.13 in early June.
We continue to believe that stability of $3 per MMBtu could be a catalyst for increased activity and demand for additional rigs. However, nat gas finished the second quarter at $2.60, and is currently trading at $2.19. We remain committed to pursuing opportunities that result in economics that justify operating our high-end super spec rigs. We continue to believe that most drillers are maintaining the same financial discipline as us on pricing. Now, turning to the next page, we'll discuss market fundamentals, which we believe remain encouraging despite kind of the flat nature of our industry today. While Permian rig counts are at 2024 lows, just above 300, we do see some encouraging signs for the possibility of modest increases in activity in the Permian in the near term.
E&Ps continue to demonstrate committed capital discipline, and the industry has experienced significant M&A consolidation activities. Production growth is flattening, and viable DUC inventory is minimal. We continue to hear from our customers that they have no viable DUCs in their inventory. Any increase in oil demand and/or a rebound in nat gas could easily increase demand for more rigs, especially in the Permian. And now I'll turn it back to you, Marius, to cover our key operational figures for the quarter.
Thank you, Marty. So in the second quarter, we achieved a rig utilization of 85.9%, which was down 1.6 percentage points from 87.5%, and this is attributable to white space between contracts in May. We earned an average clean day rate of approximately $25,600, and that is down 3% from the first quarter. Going forward, we will, as some of you might have seen, we will discontinue to show our clean day rates for competitive reasons. Note that our day rate is adjusted also for reimbursables and out of pocket expenses of $2.7 million in the quarter.
On the cost side, we paid operating expenses in line with expectations, except for higher repair and maintenance expenses, as alluded to in the previous quarterly presentation. Going forward, we expect our cash break-even level of our working rigs to be in the area of mid-$17,000 per day up to $18,000 per day. The idle rig is hot stacked at about 30% lower cost. Going over to the right-hand side, revenues in the second quarter was essentially flat from from the first quarter, and we had an adjusted EBITDA of $4.8 million, excluding zero point one million non-cash costs related to stock options. Net financial expenses were positive $126,000, as interest income or surpassed any banking charges and and financial expenses.
With the tax expense of $250,000 in the quarter, we report a net loss of $0.3 million or -$0.01 per share. Turning over to our balance sheet and cash flow statement, NorAm has a debt-free balance sheet and minimal investment requirements. We ended the quarter with a cash balance at $10.6 million, which is essentially flat from the previous quarter. The company paid out $5.2 million or NOK 1.3 per share in monthly dividends in the second quarter, and we have declared two quarterly dividends so far in Q3. We will continue to pay dividends, subject to continued positive net cash flow from operations.
Concluding this presentation, in summary, NorAm Drilling has a modernized fleet of 11 ultra-super spec rigs, fully upgraded with state-of-the-art walking systems and racking capacity, with a track record of drilling the longest wells in Permian. We are strategically positioned 100% in Permian, the largest U.S. shale basin, where our rigs are among the very top performers in terms of drilling efficiency, measured by feet drilled per rig per day. We retain a top-quality customer portfolio of 6 E&Ps, ranging from super majors to smaller private companies in Permian. The company has a track record of operating with industry-low cost break-even levels due to a lean management team, skilled labor, and low employee turnover. The company is also debt-free, and we intend to continue to pay out all our excess cash flow from operations.
Since our listing, we have paid monthly dividends of NOK 15.1 per share, and our latest monthly cash distribution of $0.04 per share implies an annualized yield of 13%. Thank you for listening to our presentation. We will now like to open for questions from the audience, and please use the Raise Hand function to ask a question. Your speaker will then be unmuted. Thank you. Our first question comes from Truls Olsen of Fearnley Securities. Truls, please unmute your speaker.
Yes, that tends to work. Hey, thank you. Hey, Marty. Hey, Marius. So a couple of questions. CapEx, low this quarter, high past quarter, how should we think about that going forward? And also OpEx, obviously, you said a bit elevated this quarter. Is elevation coming back or how where is that heading on the normalized level, do you think, going forward?
Good afternoon, Truls. Good to catch up. So with respect to your first question regarding CapEx, a lot of that is just more timing related. Again, we have a conservative policy that we really only capitalize new equipment or spare equipment, additional top drive, additional drill pipe and trucks. As we look forward to the year, we still think we'll be well within the total CapEx range of $3 million-$4 million, depending on customer requirements, which we would fully expect the economic justification for spending that money through incremental day rate or some type of reimbursable. With respect to the increase in operating cost, we do believe this is mostly transitory over the near term. More of a timing of some equipment repairs.
You know, we run our rigs hard in the current environment, and you know, we have to go through the engines, and it just kind of seemed like everything hit us all at once over the last quarter or two. We are starting to see some relief, and I think over time, while we are experiencing some inflationary pressures, which are not associated with payroll, but more in terms of getting equipment to repair whatever items we're needing to do, the supply chain is such that it's not significant. So when you can get your hands on equipment, there's a little bit of inflation there, and then secondly, we have experienced some increase in insurance that I think is impacting everyone across the world.
So as I think about it, I think over the near term, while our all-in after overhead and maintenance CapEx number for the last two quarters has been in the mid-$18,000 per day, I do think we'll get back to the $18,000 range sooner than later. Whether we can get back to the $17,500 or not, that's really gonna be more of a function of just how our repairs run. So hopefully that answers both of your questions.
Yeah, thanks. Follow up, or jumping, I should say, to day rates. I mean, I think it's a call it a pleasant surprise to see day rates holding at well above break-even levels, despite a call it a slump in rig count. Tracking forward with more of the same as you different ways of saying what you said. How do you guys see day rates? Is it trending upwards or is it a risk for that discipline you talked about to break?
Yeah, and so. Let me begin with what I'm most pleased about is that we continue to renew our contracts or sign new contracts with a minimum of six-month terms. We don't have anything above nine months, but we think that kind of demonstrates that our customers believe in the quality of our operations and our performance. They're willing to lock in the rigs, and I think they're also kind of hedging against what could transpire sooner than later, which will be a kind of across-the-board tick-up in day rates. For the most part, we continue to renew our contracts at or just maybe slightly below. I do see, going forward, some contracts that I expect to increase above our current rates. How much? To be determined.
But you know, I'm also anecdotally starting to hear that while the major drillers continue to maintain discipline, especially their focus on moving rigs to the international market. And then secondly, we are starting to hear about a customer or two who are looking to move rigs out of the Permian that we think that's gonna ease somewhat of the potential excess supply of super specs sitting on the sidelines. However many there are, which is hard to get your hands around. What we can tell you is there are not many hot stacked rigs ready to go.
As recently as we had a call a couple weeks ago from a potential customer that said, "We would like to pick up your idle rig, but we need it in three days." And we said, "Well, you know, that's probably not gonna happen. If you can give us a week and a half, we can do it." It was a short-term deal, but that kinda shows you where the market is, and that I think you're starting to see some individual opportunities that encourage me that we'll be able to put Rig 23 back to work.
But overall, I do have a sense that day rates have flattened, and the deterioration from what we've experienced over the last 12 months probably has dissipated, and I think kinda over the next three to six months, I would be hopeful that we'll be able to start moving our rates back up.
Okay. Well, thank you. Thank you, Marty. Thanks for the call. Helpful.
Thank you, Truls.
That's from me. It's from me.
Thank you, Truls. There are currently no other questions in the audience. That concludes our Q2 Presentation. Thank you so much for listening in, and thank you for all the efforts during Q2. We'll see you again next quarter. Thank you.
Thanks, everyone.