North America dropped six rigs week on week, according to Baker Hughes’ latest rotary rig count, which was released on May 10.
The U.S. dropped two rigs and Canada dropped four rigs week on week, taking the total North America rig count down to 719, comprising 603 rigs from the U.S. and 116 rigs from Canada, the count outlined.
Of the total U.S. rig count of 603, 584 are categorized as land rigs and 19 are categorized as offshore rigs. The country has 496 oil rigs, 103 gas rigs, and four miscellaneous rigs, and its horizontal rig count stands at 548, its directional rig count stands at 40, and its vertical rig count stands at 15, Baker Hughes revealed.
Week on week, the U.S. dropped three land rigs and added one offshore rig, and cut three oil rigs and added one gas rig, the count showed. Its horizontal rig count decreased by four and its vertical rig count increased by two week on week, the count highlighted.
Louisiana, New Mexico, and Utah each added one rig week on week, while Texas dropped three rigs and Oklahoma cut two rigs during the same timeframe, the count outlined.
Canada’s total rig count of 116 comprises 56 gas rigs and 60 oil rigs, Baker Hughes revealed. The country cut four gas rigs week on week, the count showed.
The total North America rig count is down 106 compared to year ago levels, according to Baker Hughes, which highlighted that the U.S. has driven this decline, cutting 128 rigs during the period while Canada’s count increased by 22. The U.S. has cut 90 oil rigs and 38 gas rigs, while Canada has dropped one gas rig and added 23 oil rigs, year on year, the rig count revealed.
In its previous rig count, which was released on May 3, Baker Hughes showed that North America dropped six rigs week on week. The U.S. dropped eight rigs week on week while Canada added two rigs, that count outlined.
“The U.S. oil rig count fell by seven week on week to 499 according to the latest Baker-Hughes survey,” analysts at Standard Chartered Bank said in a report sent to Rigzone on May 7, referring to Baker Hughes’ May 3 rig count.
“Taking the year to date change to a decline of a single rig while the year on year decline is 89 rigs (15.1 percent). Over a longer time horizon, activity continues to move sideways; the rig count has stayed in a 494-511 range for the past seven months,” they added.
“The week on week decline was concentrated in conventional (i.e., vertical) wells, with the horizonal oil rig count (a broad proxy for shale oil activity) gaining a single rig week on week to 458; this takes it close to the top of the narrow 450-459 range it has occupied since mid-November,” they continued.
“The U.S. gas rig count declined by three to a 30-month low of 102; the year on year decline stands at 55 rigs (35.0 percent). Gas drilling activity remains particularly weak in the Haynesville region, where the rig count of 35 is a 44-month low and 33 rigs lower year on year (48.5 percent),” the analysts went on to state.
Baker Hughes’ April 26 count showed that North America dropped 15 rigs week on week, its April 19 count showed that North America dropped 12 rigs week on week, and its April 12 count showed that North America added two rigs week on week.
The company’s April 5 count showed that North America cut 16 rigs week on week, its March 28 count revealed that North America dropped 21 rigs week on week, its March 22 count showed that the region cut 43 rigs week on week, its March 15 count showed that the region cut 11 rigs week on week, and its March 8 rig count showed that North America dropped 13 rigs week on week.
Baker Hughes’ March 1 rig count revealed that North America added three rigs week on week, its February 23 rig count showed that North America added two rigs week on week, and its February 16 count showed that North America’s rig count remained unchanged week on week.
The company’s February 9 rig count revealed that North America increased its rig count by four rigs week on week, its February 2 count showed that North America’s rig count stayed flat week on week, and its January 26 rig count showed that North America increased its rig count by eight rigs week on week.
Baker Hughes’ January 19 count revealed that North America increased its rig count by 11 rigs week on week, its January 12 rig count showed that North America increased its rig count by 86 rigs week on week, and its January 5 rig count, which marked the company’s first rotary rig count of 2024, showed that North America added 38 rigs week on week.
The company’s final rotary rig count of 2023 showed a notable week on week and year on year drop for North America. The region’s rig count decreased by 58 week on week and by 155 year on year, according to that count, which was released on December 29.
Baker Hughes, which has issued the rotary rig counts to the petroleum industry since 1944, describes the figures as an important business barometer for the drilling industry and its suppliers. The company obtains its working rig location information in part from Enverus.
To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
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