Oil and gas drilling activity continues to rise past the 1,000-rig mark, as this week’s increase means rig counts have climbed in nine out of the last ten weeks.
Baker Hughes reports eight rigs came online this week, bringing the total number of rigs in the U.S. to 1,021. Seven of these new rigs were land-based, while one operates in inland waters. This means there are 998 land, five inland waters and 18 offshore rigs operating today.
Activity growth this week was distributed between oil and gas targets, contrasting with the past few weeks of concentrated oil growth. Five oil-targeting rigs began operations, while three gas-targeting rigs started drilling. While more oil rigs came online than gas rigs, three new gas rigs represents a higher proportion of gas targets than the current share, as gas currently accounts for only 19.1% of all operations.
Drilling shifted heavily in favor of horizontal activity this week, with twelve such rigs coming online. Two directional and two vertical rigs shut down, leaving 68 directional, 901 horizontal and 52 vertical rigs online.
Cana Woodford sees largest weekly increase
Activity shifted throughout the country this week, as nearly every major state saw shifts in activity. Oklahoma and Texas saw the largest increase in activity, adding six and four rigs, respectively. Three more came online in North Dakota, while two began drilling in Louisiana and Ohio. One rig came online in California and Nevada, and one shut down in Colorado, Kansas and Pennsylvania. Two rigs shut down in Wyoming, while three ceased drilling in Alaska and New Mexico.
The new rig in Nevada means there are two rigs drilling in the state, the first time Nevada has seen that level of activity since mid-2014.
The major basins tracked by Baker saw similarly widespread shifts, but operations concentrated in one area. The Cana Woodford saw the largest increase in activity this week, with nine rigs coming online in the largest jump for the basin since January 2017. The Permian, which usually accounts for the largest increases in a given week, actually saw one rig shut down, unusual for the basin with 44% of all U.S. drilling rigs. Three rigs began drilling in the Williston, while two started activity in the Utica. One rig shut down in the Eagle Ford, Fayetteville and Marcellus, and two came offline in the DJ-Niobrara.
