The decline in the US drilling rig count continued to slow again during the week ended May 22, according to Baker Hughes Inc. The total count was off by 3 rigs for a total of 885. The count has now fallen for 24 consecutive weeks.
Rigs targeting oil fell 1 unit this week to 659, and down 869 rigs from a year ago. Gas-directed rigs, meanwhile, also lost 1 unit to 222.
Land rigs were up 3 units, reaching 853, but were down 930 units from a year ago.
Rigs engaged in horizontal drilling dropped 2 units to 683. Rigs drilling directionally fell 4 units to 85.
Rigs drilling in inland waters reached 3 units, falling 1 rig, while offshore rigs were down 5 rigs to 29 drilling.
Canada’s overall rig count lost 5 units to 72, and was down 82 units from a year ago. Rigs targeting oil increased 3 units to 24, while rigs targeting gas shed 8 units to 48.
Among the major oil and gas-producing states, Louisiana was down 4 units to 69 rigs drilling. West Virginia was down 3 units to 18 working. North Dakota, Ohio, and Kansas were each down 1 unit to respective counts of 78, 23, and 13. There were six states with unchanged counts from a week ago, namely Texas, 373; Colorado, 39; Wyoming, 22; California, 13; Alaska, 9; and Utah, 7. Oklahoma was up 1 unit to 104, while Arkansas was up 2 units to 8 rigs working. Two states, Pennsylvania and New Mexico, were up 3 units each, reaching respective counts of 49 and 47.
