In its weekly release, Houston-based oilfield services company
Baker Hughes Inc.
(
BHI
) reported a dip in the U.S. rig count (number of rigs searching
for oil and gas in the country). This fall can be attributed to
cutbacks in the tally of oil-directed rigs, partially offset by
increase in natural gas rig count.
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
),
Helmerich & Payne
(
HP
), etc. in gauging the overall business environment of the oil
and gas industry.
Analysis of the Data
Weekly Summary:
Rigs engaged in exploration and production in the U.S. totaled
1,800 for the week ended November 2, 2012. This was down by 26
from the previous week's rig count and represents the tenth
decrease in 12 weeks.
Despite this, the current nationwide rig count is more than
double than that of the 6-year low of 876 (in the week ended June
12, 2009) though it is below the prior-year level of 2,026. 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 descended by 26 to 1,733,
offshore drilling was down by 1 to 51 rigs, while inland waters
activity increased by 1 to 16 units.
Natural Gas Rig Count:
The natural gas rig count recovered from a 13-year low -
increasing for the fifth time in 11 weeks - to 424 (a gain of 8
rigs from the previous week). Despite the weekly improvement, the
number of gas-directed rigs is down 55% from its 2011 peak of
936, reached during mid-October.
In fact, the current natural gas rig count remains 74% below its
all-time high of 1,606 reached in late summer 2008. In the
year-ago period, there were 907 active natural gas rigs.
Oil Rig Count:
The oil rig count - which was at a 25-year high of 1,432 in
August - was down by 35 to 1,373. Nevertheless, the current tally
is way above the previous year's rig count of 1,112. It has
recovered strongly from a low of 179 in June 2009, rising by
almost 8 times.
Miscellaneous Rig Count:
The miscellaneous rig count (primarily drilling for geothermal
energy) at 3 was up by 1 from the previous week.
Rig Count by Type:
The number of vertical drilling rigs fell by 12 to 500, 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 down
by 14 at 1,300. In particular, horizontal rig units - that
reached an all-time high of 1,193 in May this year - remained
unchanged from the last week's level at 1,105.
BAKER-HUGHES (BHI): Free Stock Analysis
Report
DIAMOND OFFSHOR (DO): Free Stock Analysis
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HELMERICH&PAYNE (HP): Free Stock Analysis
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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
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