Natural Gas Rig Count Touches 900 - Analyst Blog
August 22 2011 - 10:15AM
Zacks
In its weekly release,
Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc.
(BHI) reported a rise in the U.S. rig
count (number of rigs searching for oil and gas in the country).
This can be primarily attributed to an increase in the tally of
land rigs.
The Baker Hughes rig count, issued
since 1944, acts as an important yardstick for drilling contractors
such as Transocean Inc. (RIG),
Diamond Offshore (DO),
Noble Corp. (NE), Nabors
Industries (NBR), Patterson-UTI
Energy (PTEN) and Helmerich &
Payne (HP) in gauging the overall
business environment of the oil and gas industry.
Weekly
Summary
Rigs engaged in exploration and
production in the U.S. totaled 1,974 for the week ended August 19,
2011. This is up by 15 from the previous week’s rig count and
represents the highest level since November 7, 2008.
The current nationwide rig count is
more than double that of the 6-year low of 876 (set in the week
ended June 12, 2009) and significantly exceeds the prior-year level
of 1,651. It rose to a 22-year high in 2008, peaking at 2,031 in
the weeks ending August 29 and September 12.
Rigs engaged in land operations
climbed by 16 to 1,921, offshore drilling decreased by 1 to 34,
while inland waters activity remained steady at 19 rigs.
Natural Gas Rig
Count
The natural gas rig count increased
by 4 from the previous week to reach 900, the highest level since
late February 2011. Despite the weekly improvement, the number of
gas-directed rigs is down more than 9% from its 2010 peak of 992,
reached during mid-August.
In fact, the current natural gas
rig count remains 44% below its all-time high of 1,606 reached in
late summer 2008, but has rebounded strongly after bottoming out to
a 7-year low of 665 on July 17, 2009. In the year-ago period, there
were 985 active natural gas rigs.
Oil Rig
Count
The oil rig count was up by 11 to
1,066. The current tally – the highest in 23 years – is
considerably more than the previous year’s rig count of 655. It has
recovered strongly from a low of 179 in June 2009, rising almost 6
times.
Miscellaneous Rig
Count
The miscellaneous rig count
(primarily drilling for geothermal energy), at 8, remained steady
compared to the previous week.
Rig Count by
Type
The number of vertical drilling
rigs rose by 13 to 609, while the horizontal/directional rig count
(encompassing new drilling technology that has the ability to drill
and extract gas from dense rock formations, also known as shale
formations) was up by 2 at 1,365. In particular, horizontal rig
units rose by 15 in the latest week to hit a new all-time high of
1,138.
BAKER-HUGHES (BHI): Free Stock Analysis Report
DIAMOND OFFSHOR (DO): Free Stock Analysis Report
HELMERICH&PAYNE (HP): Free Stock Analysis Report
NABORS IND (NBR): Free Stock Analysis Report
NOBLE CORP (NE): Free Stock Analysis Report
PATTERSON-UTI (PTEN): Free Stock Analysis Report
TRANSOCEAN LTD (RIG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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