One additional inland waters rig is sole addition
U.S. drilling activity increased slightly this week, according to the latest edition of Baker Hughes’ Weekly Rig Count.
There are now a total of 944 active rigs in the country, up one from 943 last week. Inland waters provided the single addition, meaning there are now five such rigs active in the U.S. land rigs and offshore rigs were each unchanged at 923 and 16, respectively.
The overall focus on oil targets decreased slightly this week, with three oil-targeting rigs shutting down and four gas-targeting rigs becoming active. There are currently 756 oil-targeting rigs, 187 gas targeting rigs and one “miscellaneous” rig active in the country.
The recent shift away from vertical rigs in favor of directional reversed somewhat this week. Seven vertical rigs became active this week, while five directional rigs shut down. There are currently 76 directional rigs and 75 vertical rigs, meaning the spread between the two trajectories has narrowed significantly in recent weeks. One horizontal rig also came offline.
While the change in overall activity was slight, many of the major states tracked by Baker saw changes in individual rig count. Activity increased most sharply in New Mexico, where three rigs came online. One rig became active in North Dakota, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, while one shut down in Arkansas, Colorado and Louisiana. Two rigs also shut down in Alaska. The Arkansas rig was the only one active in the state, meaning there is no drilling activity in the state currently.
The major basins tracked by Baker also saw significant changes in individual rig counts. Two rigs came online in the Cana Woodford, Haynesville, Marcellus and Permian, while one became active in the Williston. One rig shut down in each the Arkoma Woodford, DJ-Niobrara, Fayettville and Granite Wash.
Activity was little changed in Canada, where one rig came online this week. This additional rig will target gas, meaning there are now 100 gas-targeting rigs and 102 oil-targeting rigs in the country.
International activity down by seven
Baker also released this month’s International Rig Count, outlining the overall activity in the industry. Seven rigs came offline in August, meaning there are now 952 international rigs operational. The largest change was seen in Europe, where nine rigs became active, pushing the regional total to 91. These additions were spread over multiple countries, with Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Serbia and Montenegro, and the UK each adding activity.
Decreases were seen in most other regions, with activity decreasing most in the Middle East. Decreasing activity in Israel, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia contributed to a total drop of six rigs. Five rigs came offline in Latin America, primarily due to decreasing activity in Venezuela and Mexico. Activity also declined by five in Africa, where Algeria and Nigeria each saw counts decrease.
Source: Baker Hughes
