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Rig count down by two to 1,877; U.S. picks up 15 rigs, Canada loses 17
The number of rotary drilling rigs operating in the United States and Canada during the week ending Sept. 23 totaled 1,877, down two rigs from the previous week but up 347 rigs compared to the same weekly period last year, according to rig monitor Baker Hughes.
Canada’s rig count for the recent week was 426, a decrease of 17 rigs from the prior week but an increase of 135 rigs when compared to the year-ago period.
The number of rigs operating in the United States during the recent week totaled 1,451, up 15 rigs from the previous week and up 212 rigs from the same period last year. Compared to the previous week only, land rigs increased by 10 to 1,336, while offshore rigs increased by five to 94. Inland waters rigs remained unchanged at 21. Rig count prior to Rita The Baker Hughes rig count was issued prior to Hurricane Rita’s arrival along the Texas-Louisiana coast. The storm earlier swept through the Gulf of Mexico as a category four and five hurricane, seriously damaging a yet undetermined number of evacuated offshore drilling rigs on the continental shelf and in deeper waters of the Gulf.
Of the total number of rigs operating in the United States during the recent week, 1,239 rigs were drilling for natural gas and 205 for oil, while seven rigs were being used for miscellaneous purposes. Of the total, 904 were vertical wells, 348 directional wells and 199 horizontal wells.
Among the leading U.S. producing states, Texas picked up six rigs compared to the previous week for a total of 633 rigs. Louisiana picked up three rigs for a total of 188 rigs. Wyoming gained three rigs for a total of 86 rigs. California picked up two rigs for a total of 29 rigs. And New Mexico gained one rig for a total of 90 rigs. Alaska’s rig count declined by two for a total of four rigs, while Oklahoma’s declined by two rigs for a total of 152 rigs. Colorado’s rig count was unchanged at 79 rigs.
—Ray Tyson
Editor’s note: According to Ron Wilson, the top executive at Doyon Drilling in Anchorage, Alaska, Baker Hughes’s rig number for Alaska is incorrect. Wilson told Petroleum News Sept. 28 that Doyon and Nabors Alaska Drilling each have five rigs working on the North Slope and Nordic has two for a total of 12 working rigs in northern Alaska. In Cook Inlet, the working rigs include one belonging to Kuukpik Arctic Drilling, one owned by Marathon Oil, one owned by Unocal (now part of Chevron) on a platform (operated by Nabors), and one owned by Aurora Gas. “At least 15 or 16 are currently working that I am aware of,” Wilson said. (See latest rig report for Alaska on page 2 of this issue.)
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