Canada rig count climbs, while US count slides
Canada’s rig count increased this week, while US drilling activity fell. According to Baker Hughes’s rotary rig count, which was released Friday, Canada’s rig count increased by 105 units to reach 189 rigs running the week ended Jan. 6. The count is up 48 from the number of rigs drilling during this period last year.
There were 113 rigs drilling for oil in Canada this week, up 88 rigs from last week. The number of rigs drilling for gas increased by 17 to 76 rigs working.
In the US, the rig count fell by 7 rigs, reaching 772 units still working. This week's count is up 184 from the year-ago total of 588 rotary rigs.
This week's falloff was led by a decline in US land rigs, which were down 8 rigs with 754 working. Offshore rigs increased by 1 rig, and those drilling in inland waters remained unchanged, landing at 16 and 2 rigs working, respectively.
The number of US rigs drilling for gas fell 4 to 152 this week, while the number of rigs drilling for oil decreased 3 to 618. Two rigs remained unclassified.
Rigs involved in vertical drilling were down 1 to 26 for the week. There were 46 US rigs drilling directional wells, unchanged from last week, while those drilling horizontal wells decreased by 6 to 700.
Leading the week's decline in the US was Oklahoma, down 3 units with 66 units still working. New Mexico, Louisiana, and Alaska each dropped 1 rig to reach counts of 100, 66, and 4 rigs running.
Texas gained 2 rigs to reach 378 working for the week. One additional rig was working in Ohio, bringing the state’s count to 14 for the week.