According to the weekly drilling rig report provided by Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI), the number of drilling rigs working onshore and offshore North America has increased.
While the number of land rigs contracted for work in the US only rose one this week, the number is up 638 rigs year over year, bringing the number of US land rigs currently contracted to 1,586.
Most likely, the increase has been spurred by Shale drilling, with spikes being seen in the number of rigs working in shale areas. Year over year, the number of land rigs working in Texas, which contains Haynesville, Barnett and Eagle Ford Shale plays increased by 94.5 percent. In Pennsylvania, which contains the massive Marcellus Shale play, the number of rigs working increased by 91 percent year over year. With the biggest increase, the number of rigs working in North Dakota, which contains the Bakken Shale play, increased year over year by 212 percent.
Additionally, the number of Canadian land rigs contracted this week increased by 14 to 363 drilling rigs. This is an increase of 163 land rigs year over year for Canada.
Offshore the US, the number of rigs contracted for work is currently 16; which while up two from last week, is down 20 offshore rigs year over year, representing a 55.56 percent decrease in the number of drilling rigs working in the US Gulf of Mexico.
Likely spurred by the deepwater drilling moratorium followed by the drilling suspension, a number of offshore drilling rigs contracted for work in the US have been relocated to other regions of the world.
But the suspension is affecting more than the deepwater and ultra-deepwater drilling. Apache declared a force majeure on Rowan Offshore’s Bob Palmer jackup, which can only drill in waters up to 500 feet deep due to safety-related notices to lessees (NTLs).
“These NTLs impact the ability of our customers to obtain new permits on a timely basis and continue operations uninterrupted under existing permits,” Rowan said.
