By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 1 -- The US rig count climbed again this week, reaching 1,776 units working, up 38 from the prior week and up from 1,465 rigs in the comparable period a year ago, Baker Hughes Inc. reported. The count is the highest it’s been since December 2008, when there were 1,790 rigs working.
All of the gains were in land operations, which were up 39 units to 1,729 working. Activity in inland waters remained unchanged at 20. Offshore drilling lost 1 for a total of 27 rotary rigs working, all of them in the Gulf of Mexico.
Of the US rigs working, 891 were drilling for natural gas, an increase of 11 from the previous week. The number drilling for oil grew by 26 to 877. There were 8 rotary rigs unclassified. Horizontal drilling increased by 22 units to 1,017. Directional drilling was up 4 units from the previous week, reaching 228.
Oklahoma registered the largest gain among major producing states, with 19 more rigs working for a total 175. Texas and North Dakota each gained 4 units to 770 and 159, respectively. Wyoming and Arkansas gained 2 rigs each with respective counts of 40 and 36. Making gains of 1 rig were New Mexico, 78, and Colorado, 72. Unchanged were Pennsylvania, 104, West Virginia, 16, and Alaska, 6. Louisiana and California were down 1 rig each to 175 and 41, respectively.
Canada’s rotary rig count fell hard again this week, down 144 to 285. That compared with 151 rotary rigs working in the same period last year.
Rendering from Cedar LNG.
US Government Accountability Office.
