U.S. rigs move to Bakken, Mississippian, Arkoma Woodford
U.S. Drilling activity has continued to rise this week, according to Baker Hughes’ (ticker: BHI) weekly rig count for March 17, 2017. The total number of rigs active in the U.S. grew by 21 this week, with land rigs up by 22. This brings the total rigs active in the U.S. to 789, up from 768 last week and 476 last year.
As expected given current trends in the industry, the vast majority of added rigs are drilling horizontal wells. Nineteen horizontal rigs were added this week, while only two vertical rigs were brought online this week. There are currently 658 horizontal rigs active in the U.S. and 70 vertical rigs, up from last year’s levels by 289 and 12, respectively.
Rigs targeting oil increased by 14 this week, bringing the total number of oil rigs to 631. Six gas-targeting rigs were brought online this week, meaning that there are currently 157 gas rigs active in the U.S.
The Bakken added the most rigs this week, with four coming online to bring its total to 42 active rigs. Somewhat surprisingly, the Mississippian and Arkoma Woodford both added three rigs. These basins now have six and nine active rigs, respectively. The Eagle Ford added two, while the DJ, Granite Wash, Haynesville, and Marcellus all added one rig each.
Unusually, the Permian lost one rig to bring its total to 308 active rigs. The Permian has not seen a decrease in active rigs since last November. Finally, the Cana Woodford lost one rig, bringing its total to 48 rigs.
Oklahoma added the most rigs, with 10 moving to the state this week to bring its rig total to 111. North Dakota added five, bringing its total to 42. The number of rigs in Texas increased by 4, while Utah and Colorado added 2.
The number of Canadian rigs dropped sharply this week, decreasing by 39 to a total of 276. Oil targeting rigs in Canada decreased by 31 to 149, while gas rigs decreased by 10 to a total of 125.
