By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Nov. 20 -- US drilling activity increased for the fifth consecutive week, up by 12 rotary rigs to 1,113 working but still well below the 1,941 units drilling during the comparable week a year ago, Baker Hughes Inc. reported.
Land operations accounted for the increase, up by 13 units to 1,064 drilling. Inland waters activity was unchanged with 13 rigs working. US offshore declined by 1 rig to 34 in the Gulf of Mexico and a total of 36 rigs in US waters.
Of the US rigs working, 726 were drilling for natural gas, down 2 from the previous week. The number drilling for oil increased by 14 to 375. There were 12 rotary rigs unclassified. Horizontal drilling jumped by 19 rigs to 531. Directional drilling dropped 5 to 189.
Texas had the biggest gain among the major producing states, up 9 rigs to 441 drilling. Louisiana gained 6 to 172. North Dakota increased by 4 rigs to 58. Oklahoma added 2 for a total 79 rigs working. Alaska increased by 1 to 9, while Wyoming was unchanged at 39. Colorado’s rig count fell by 9 units to 31 still working. New Mexico was down 2 to 46. Arkansas and California each lost 1 rig to respective counts of 39 and 24.
In other states of interest, Pennsylvania’s rig count increased by 1 to 63. West Virginia also gained 1 to 21. Utah was unchanged with 19 rigs working.
Canada’s rotary rig count increased by 30 to 293 this week, compared with 400 rigs working in the same period last year.