By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 21 -- US drilling activity dipped again for the fourth consecutive week, down 6 rotary rigs to 838 compared with 1,277 during the same period a year ago, officials at Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday.
Land operations accounted for the loss, down 8 rigs with 715 still working. Offshore activity increased by 2 rigs to 110 for the US as a whole, but was unchanged at 105 in the Gulf of Mexico. There were 13 units working inland waters, unchanged from the previous week.
Canada's rig count jumped by 32 to 210 this week, but still lagged behind 305 during the same period last year.
The number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the US dropped by 11 to 698 this week, while the number drilling for oil was up 5 to 139. One rig remained unclassified.
There were 235 rotary rigs involved in directional drilling this week, the same as last week. Those doing horizontal drilling increased by 3 to 69.
Louisiana led the retreat, down 6 rigs with 153 still working. There were 103 rigs working in Oklahoma, 4 fewer than the previous week, while Texas was down 2 to 318. California's rig count dropped 1 to 22.
Small increases were recorded in New Mexico, up 3 to 46; Wyoming, up 2 to 43; and Alaska, up 1 to 11.
ODS-Petrodata Group in Houston reported 128 mobile offshore rigs under contract in the Gulf of Mexico this week, down 1 from the previous week with the total available rig fleet down 2 to 197 in those waters. As a result, the utilization rate in that market actually inched up to 65%.
Meanwhile, the number of contracted rigs in European waters increased by 1 to 89, while 2 units were added to that fleet for 106 total. That utilization rate decreased slightly to 84%.
Worldwide activity was unchanged this week, with 525 mobile offshore rigs contracted out of a total fleet of 657 for a utilization rate of 79.9%.