US drilling rig count gains 20 units to 1,965
US oil and gas drilling activity this week increase by 20 units to reach 1,965 total rigs working. The rig count for the week ended May 4 was up by 129 rigs compared with the same period a year ago, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.
All of this gain was in land drilling operations, which was up 21 units to 1,899 rigs working. There were 44 rigs drilling offshore—all of which in the Gulf of Mexico—which was down 1 rig from a week ago. Rigs drilling in inland waters totaled 22, unchanged from last week (OGJ Online, Apr. 27, 2012).
Rigs drilling for oil in the US increased by 27 units from a week ago to reach 1,355. Rigs targeting gas for the week ended May 4 decreased by 7 rigs to reach 606. There were 4 rotary rigs unclassified, unchanged from last week.
Baker Hughes reported 234 rigs doing directional drilling, a loss of 9 units from last week. Horizontal drilling increased by 19 rigs to reach a total of 1,158 units working.
Of the top producing states, Texas was up 8 rigs to 933 units working. Louisiana, New Mexico, and Ohio, at respective counts of 130, 87, and 16, were each up 4 units. California, up 2 units, reached 45 rigs. North Dakota, at 197, was up 1 rig. Three states were unchanged from last week: Oklahoma, 198; Wyoming, 39; and Arkansas, 23. Pennsylvania, at 96, and West Virginia, at 21, were each down 1 rig. Down 2 rigs each were California and Alaska, at 45 and 3, respectively.
Canada’s rig count declined another 3 units from a week ago, reaching 131. This is up 8 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.
