More rigs in 31 of 32 past weeks
Rigs active in the U.S. have stretched their inexorable climb into the 23rd week, according to Baker Hughes’ Rotary Rig Count. In total, eight rigs came online in the U.S. over the past week, bringing the total number of active rigs in the U.S. to 941. In the past 32 weeks, the total U.S. rig count has gone down only once.
As usual, land-based rigs made up the majority of growth this week, adding seven to close the week at 915. One inland waters rig came online, meaning four of such rigs are active right now. Offshore rigs are unchanged at 22.
Oil-targeting rigs continue to increase their share of the overall U.S. rig market, adding 11 this week. Three gas–targeting rigs came offline, making the total number of oil and gas-targeting rigs 758 and 183, respectively.
84% of all rigs are horizontal
The horizontal rigs used in unconventional development utterly dominate current U.S. activity. In total, 10 horizontal rigs became active over the last week. Three directional rigs came online, while five vertical rigs shut down. The 792 active horizontal rigs represent 84% of the total number of rigs in the U.S.
Oklahoma added the highest number of rigs this week, with five coming online. This more than makes up for the 4-rig decline the state showed last week. The second-largest gain among states was in North Dakota, which added three rigs to end the week with 52 active rigs. Two rigs came online in Louisiana, while California and Colorado each added one. Two rigs shut down in Alaska, and one came offline in both New Mexico and Utah.
Small increases were seen in many of the major basins Baker tracks. Rigs active in the Williston increased by three, and remain equal to the total number of rigs in North Dakota. The Granite Wash added two rigs, while the Ardmore Woodford, Cana Woodford, DJ-Niobrara and Permian each added one. Of the major basins tracked by Baker Hughes, only the Mississippian saw a decrease in activity, losing one rig over the week.
Relative to activity last week, the addition of one rig in the Ardmore Woodford is the most significant change. Last week there were no rigs active in the Ardmore Woodford, making this week’s activity technically infinitely higher than last week.
Canada continues to recover from the yearly “spring breakup,” where a large portion of active rigs shut down in the springtime. 11 rigs came online in Canada this week, bringing the total number of rigs in the country to 170. Notably, the proportion of oil and gas rigs in Canada is almost the exact opposite of the proportion at this point last year. Currently, there are 98 oil-targeting rigs and 72 gas-targeting rigs in Canada. At this point last year, by contrast, there were 36 and 39 oil and gas-targeting rigs, respectively.
