US drilling rig count falls 11 units to 1,848

The US drilling rig count fell 11 units during the week ended Sept. 28, with the total number of rotary rigs in the US reaching 1,848, reported Baker Hughes Inc. This compares with 1,990 rigs working in the comparable week last year.

Land rigs fell 6 units to 1,781. Rigs drilling in inland waters dropped 2 units to 17 rigs. There were 50 rigs drilling offshore, 3 fewer than a week ago. Of these rigs, 48 were drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, 2 fewer than reported last week.

Of the recent week’s total, rigs drilling for oil reached 1,410, an increase of 8 units from a week ago. Rigs targeting gas fell 19 units from last week to reach 435 rigs. Three active rotaries were unclassified, unchanged from a week ago.

Rigs drilling directionally were reported at 192, down 10 units from a week ago and 46 fewer than the comparable week last year. The number of rigs drilling horizontally decreased by 7 units to 1,142 compared with 1,135 in the comparable week a year ago.

Of the major oil and gas producing states, Oklahoma was down 9 rigs to 191. Louisiana, at 111, and Pennsylvania, at 63, were down 2 rigs each. Three states—New Mexico, California, and West Virginia—were down 1 rig each to respective counts of 86, 36, and 27. Unchanged this week were North Dakota, 181; Ohio, 19; Arkansas, 16; and Alaska, 7. Texas, at 878, and Wyoming, at 50, were up 1 rig each this week. Colorado gained 2 rigs to reach 62 units.

Canada’s rig count was 359, which includes 270 rigs drilling for oil and 88 units drilling for gas. The total was down 4 units from the previous week and down 151 units from last year’s comparable week.