US drilling rig count gains 11 to 1,979 units
US oil and gas drilling activity this week increased by 11 units to 1,979 total rigs working. The rig count for the week ended Mar. 30 was up by 203 rigs from the comparable period a year ago, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.
Land drilling operations were up 11 units this week to 1,910 rigs working. There were 46 rigs drilling offshore—all of which in the Gulf of Mexico—which was unchanged from the previous week. Rigs drilling in inland waters totaled 23, unchanged from last week (OGJ Online, Mar. 23, 2012).
Of the US rigs working, rigs drilling for oil gained 5 units from a week ago to reach 1,318. Rigs targeting for gas for the week ended Mar. 30 gained 6 rigs to reach 658 units working. There were 3 rotary rigs unclassified, unchaged from last week.
Baker Hughes reported 233 rigs doing directional drilling, an increase of 2 units from a week ago. Horizontal drilling increased by 6 rigs to a total of 1,180 units working.
Of the top producing states, Texas gained 7 units to reach 922 rigs working. North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Alaska gained 2 rigs each for respective counts of 198, 100, and 8. Oklahoma, at 198, was up 1 rig. Four states were unchanged this week, namely New Mexico, 83; California, 45; West Virginia, 28; and Ohio, 11. Down by 1 rig were Colorado, 66, and Arkansas, 26. Wyoming was off 2 rigs to 41; Louisiana was down 3 rigs to 137 units working.
Canada’s rig count declined another 96 units from a week ago, reaching 256. This is down 29 units from the same period a year ago.
Contact Steven Poruban at [email protected].
Steven Poruban | Managing Editor-News
Steven Poruban was hired as staff writer for Oil & Gas Journal in October 1998. Two years later, he was promoted to senior staff writer. In October 2004, he was then promoted to senior editor. He now serves as managing editor-news.
Before working for OGJ, Steven was a reporter for Gas Daily and editor of Gas Transportation Report. He attended Boston University then transferred to and graduated from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., with a BA in English in 1993.