By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 20 -- US drilling activity increased by 3 units to 1,114 rotary rigs working this week, up from 928 during the same period a year ago, officials at Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday.
Offshore operations accounted for the bulk of that gain, up by 3 rigs to 99 in the Gulf of Mexico and 100 in US waters as a whole. Inland water drilling also increased by 1 rig to 20. However, that was offset by a dip in land operations, down by 1 rig to 994 working this week.
Canada's rig count fell by 12 units to 574 this week, still up from 558 last year.
Among US rigs, those drilling for natural gas increased by 3 to 954, while those drilling for oil were unchanged at 155. There were 5 rigs unclassified. Directional drilling increased by 4 to 289 rigs this week; horizontal drilling decreased by 3 to 95 rigs.
Texas and Louisiana were down by 3 rigs each this week, with respective rig counts of 482 and 165. Oklahoma and Alaska added 2 rigs each for totals of 145 and 12, respectively. Wyoming and New Mexico each gained 1 rig, putting their respective counts at 64 and 62. California was unchanged with 20 rotary rigs drilling.
The number of mobile offshore rigs under contract in the Gulf of Mexico increased by 1 to 116 this week out of an available fleet of 163. That boosted utilization in the gulf to 71.2%, said officials Friday at ODS-Petrodata Consulting & Research, Houston.
In European waters, the number of contracted rigs increased by 1 to 79 out of a fleet of 96, raising utilization to 82.3% in those waters. The result was a net gain of 2 rigs to 529 under contract worldwide, while the total fleet declined by 1 rig to 653. That boosted global utilization of mobile offshore rigs to 81%, officials said.
