US drilling rig count rises 6 units to 1,776

July 26, 2013
The US drilling rig count increased 6 units during the week ended July 26 to reach a total of 1,776 rotary rigs working, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

The US drilling rig count increased 6 units during the week ended July 26 to reach a total of 1,776 rotary rigs working, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.

The gains were mostly made in land-based drilling, which rose by 5 units this week to reach 1,696. One additional rig was reported offshore for a total of 58, while the number of rigs drilling in inland waters remained unchanged at 22.

Rigs drilling for oil gained 6 units to reach 1,401, while those drilling for gas remained unchanged at 369 rigs working. Compared with the same week last year, gas rigs were down 136 units. Six rigs were considered unclassified, unchanged from a week ago.

The number of rigs drilling horizontally increased by 9 units to 1,067, while the number of rigs drilling directionally rose by 7 units to 287. The number of vertical drilling rigs fell by 10 units to 422, and is down by 111 units from the comparable week a year ago.

Canada’s rig count increased by 5 units to 329 this week. This count includes 218 rigs drilling for oil (up by 4 units from a week ago) and 111 drilling for gas (up by 1 from a week ago).

Of the major oil and gas producing states, Oklahoma gained 5 units to reach 176 rigs, while Texas gained 3 units to reach 848 rigs. Colorado was up 2 units to 70 rigs working. California, at 42, and West Virginia, at 27, each gained 1 rig this week. Five states were unchanged this week: Louisiana, 103; Wyoming, 53; Ohio, 34; Utah, 31; and Arkansas, 13. New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Alaska, at respective counts of 79, 53, and 7, were down 1 rig each. North Dakota and Kansas lost 3 rigs each, dropping to 171 and 25 units, respectively.

Notable changes this week in major US basins include a 5-rig rise in Granite Wash to a total of 76 units and a 4-rig gain in Eagle Ford to a total of 237 units. At the other end of the spectrum, the Permian lost 6 rigs to drop to 462 units.