By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Sept. 14 -- The weekly rotary rig count fell by 14 in the US and its waters and by 10 in Canada, said Baker Hughes Inc., Houston.
This week there were 1,202 rotary rigs working in the US and its waters and 318 working in Canada. A year ago, the numbers were 1,012 and 271 respectively.
Of the rigs working in the US and its waters this week, 220 were drilling for oil; 981 were drilling for gas; and 1 was unclassified. There were 1,034 rigs on land, 25 in inland waters, and 143 offshore.
This week, the Texas rig count fell by 9 to 469; New Mexico dropped by 6 to 69; Oklahoma fell 5 to 134; and Wyoming slipped 1 to 65. Alaska's count rose 1 to 14, and the California and Louisiana counts were unchanged at 41 and 212 respectively.
Baker Hughes also said that its August monthly rig count outside the US was 756, up 8 from July and up 51 from August 2000. The August offshore rig count outside the US was 219, up 2 from July and up 11 from August 2000.
US Gulf of Mexico offshore rig utilization fell "precipitously" this week, said ODS-Petrodata Group, which has its own weekly count.
A 7-rig decline in the number of rigs under contract compared to 1 week ago has forced US Gulf rig fleet utilization down to 68.1%, said the group.
Of the 210 mobile offshore drilling rigs now deployed in the US Gulf, 143 are under contract this week. European offshore rig utilization is 95.1% of the 102 mobile offshore drilling rigs deployed in the area.
Worldwide offshore rig utilization is 83.9% of the world's 652 mobile offshore drilling rigs, said ODS-Petrodata.
