Texas has 51% of all active rigs in the U.S.
Baker Hughes (ticker: BHI) released its weekly rig count today, announcing the seventeenth straight week of increasing drilling activity.
In total, eight rigs came online in the U.S. this week, meaning there are 885 active rigs in the country. Seven land rigs were added, while inland waters lost one rig and two offshore rigs came online.
Oil continues to dominate U.S. activity, as nine oil-targeting rigs came online this week. One gas-targeting rig came offline, meaning there are 540 more oil-targeting rigs than gas-targeting rigs in the U.S.
Eight horizontal rigs were added this week, ending the week with 742 rigs active. Other trajectory rigs were mixed, as one directional rig came offline and one vertical became active.
Horizontal activity is even more dominant than oil, as horizontal rigs outnumber vertical and directional rigs combined by 599.
Rigs continue to move to Texas, as the state added eight active rigs this week and now has 451 operational rigs. Texas now has 51% of all rigs active in the United States. Several other states experienced small changes, with one rig coming online in Colorado, North Dakota, Ohio and Wyoming while Alaska and New Mexico lost two and Oklahoma lost two.
Permian remains ground zero
The Permian is still the heart of oil and gas activity, as the basin added eight rigs this week.
The Permian now has 357 active rigs, more than all the other major basins Baker Hughes tracks combined. Like the states, basins otherwise saw only minor changes. Two rigs came online in the Cana Woodford, and one was added in the Granite Wash, Utica and Williston. One rig shut down in both the Arkoma Woodford and Mississippian.
Canadian rigs have not quite hit the bottom of the spring shutdown yet, as two more rigs came offline this week. Four gas-targeting rigs came offline, while oil-targeting rigs added two. Unlike in the U.S., where 80% of rigs target oil, 64% of all Canadian rigs target gas.
Source: Baker Hughes
Oil prices hung in there today, with WTI near term contracts bouncing in a range between $47 and $48.
