US rig count gains another 17 units

Oct. 9, 2009
US drilling activity increased again this week, up 17 units to 1,041 rigs working, Baker Hughes Inc. reported Oct. 9.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Oct. 9
-- US drilling activity increased again this week, up 17 units to 1,041 rigs working, Baker Hughes Inc. reported Oct. 9.

Land operations gained 16 rigs to reach 999 working. Rig counts in inland waters remained unchanged from a week prior at 9 units and in the Gulf of Mexico, the count grew by 1 rig to reach 32. A total of 33 rigs were working in US coastal waters.

Rigs drilling for oil increased by 2 units to 305 this week, while those drilling for natural gas shot up 14 units to 726. There were 10 rigs unclassified, which is up 1 rig from last week. Directional drilling remained unchanged at 184 units, while horizontal drilling gained 19 units to 463 rigs in operation.

Louisiana and Texas made the largest gains among the major producing states, both up 7 units to respective counts of 159 and 396. Oklahoma’s rig count was up 2 units to 76 working. California, North Dakota, and Wyoming all gained 1 rig to reach 22, 48, and 39 units, respectively. Alaska remained unchanged at 6 rigs drilling. Losing a single rig each were Arkansas, Colorado, and New Mexico with respective counts of 39, 38, and 45.

In other states of interest, both Utah and West Virginia gained 1 rig to reach 17 and 21, respectively. Pennsylvania was unchanged from last week at 56 units.

Canada’s rig count increased by 1 unit to 239 this week, compared with 470 rigs working in the same period last year.