US rig count gains another 7 units

Oct. 2, 2009
US drilling activity increased again this week, up 7 units to 1,024 rigs working, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Oct. 2
-- US drilling activity increased again this week, up 7 units to 1,024 rigs working, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

Land operations gained 4 rigs to reach 983 working. Rig counts in inland waters gained 2 units to 9 rigs and in the Gulf of Mexico, the count grew by 1 rig to reach 31. A total of 32 rigs were working in US coastal waters.

The number of rigs drilling for oil increased by 6 rigs to 303 this week, while those drilling for natural gas were up 2 to 712 units. There were 9 rigs unclassified, which is down 1 rig from last week. Directional drilling decreased by 10 rigs to 184 units, while horizontal drilling gained 2 units to 444 rigs in operation.

Texas made the largest gain among the major producing states, up 14 to 390 units drilling. Rig counts for Alaska, Arkansas, California, Louisiana, and Wyoming all remained unchanged at 6, 40, 21, 153, and 38, respectively. New Mexico and North Dakota each lost 1 rig reaching 46 and 47 units drilling, respectively. Down 2 rigs was Oklahoma with 74 units working. Colorado’s count reached 39 rigs, down 7 units from a week ago.

In other states of interest, Utah gained 3 rigs to 16, Pennsylvania gained 2 rigs to 56, and West Virginia remained unchanged at 20 units.

Canada’s rig count increased by 10 units to 238 this week, compared with 431 rigs working in the same period last year.