Largest horizontal decrease this year
Drilling activity in the U.S. continued to decline this week, extending the slide to three weeks in a row, according to Baker Hughes Weekly Rig Count.
A net five rigs shut down in the past week, leaving 1,047 rigs drilling in the country. Eight land-based rigs came offline, while two inland waters and one offshore rig began drilling. This means there are, and 1,024 land, 4 inland waters and 18 offshore rigs active in the U.S.
The decline in activity was distributed proportionally among oil and gas drillers, as four oil-targeting rigs shut down and one gas-targeting rig came offline. This leaves 858 oil and 187 gas rigs drilling in the country.
Operations shifted in favor of directional drilling this week, with three directional rigs coming online in the week. Horizontal and vertical rigs each saw four rigs shut down this week, the largest decline in horizontal activity in 2018.
There are currently 65 directional, 926 horizontal and 56 vertical rigs active in the country.
Many individual states saw shifts in rig count this week. Oklahoma and New Mexico showed the largest increases, adding two rigs each. One rig also came online in California, while one shut down in Louisiana. Two rigs came offline in Alabama, Mississippi and North Dakota, and three stopped drilling in Texas.
The Permian stopped its slide this week, as the basin held steady at 474 rigs. The only increase among basins tracked by Baker came in the Cana Woodford, where two new rigs came online. Two rigs shut down in the Eagle Ford and Williston, and three came offline in the Haynesville.
Activity increased in Canada, as would be expected at this point in the year. A total of 12 rigs began drilling, meaning there are 172 rigs active in the country. This is down slightly from last year, when there were 189 rigs active in Canada. All new rigs target oil, as fourteen such rigs began drilling. Two gas-targeting rigs shut down. With 117 oil and 55 gas rigs, the focus on oil is much less prevalent in Canada than in the U.S. Oil drilling accounts for 68% of Canadian activity, compared to 81.9% in the U.S.
