In its weekly release, Houston-based oilfield services company
Baker Hughes Inc.
(
BHI
) reported a marginal rise in the U.S. rig count (number of rigs
searching for oil and gas in the country).
This can be attributed to an increase in the tally of miscellaneous
and oil-directed rigs, partially offset by cutbacks in natural gas
rig count. In particular, the oil rig count jumped to a new 25-year
high, while natural gas drilling dropped to another 13-year low.
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
1,931 for the week ended August 10, 2012. This was up by 1 from the
previous week's count and represents the second increase in as many
weeks.
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) but is
below the prior-year level of 1,959. 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 offshore drilling inched up 1 to 50, while land
operations and inland waters activity remained steady at 1,861 and
20 rigs, respectively.
Natural Gas Rig Count:
The natural gas rig count decreased for the fourteenth time in 16
weeks to 495 (a drop of 3 rigs from the previous week). As per the
most recent report, the number of gas-directed rigs is at their
lowest level since July 16, 1999 and is down 47% from its 2011 peak
of 936, reached during mid-October.
The current natural gas rig count remains 69% below its all-time
high of 1,606 reached in late summer 2008. In the year-ago period,
there were 896 active natural gas rigs.
Oil Rig Count:
The oil rig count was up by 3 to 1,432. The current tally - the
highest since Baker Hughes started breaking up oil and natural gas
rig counts in 1987 - is way above the previous year's rig count of
1,055. It has recovered strongly from a low of 179 in June 2009,
rising by 8 times.
Miscellaneous Rig Count:
The miscellaneous rig count (primarily drilling for geothermal
energy) at 4 was up by 1 from the previous week.
Rig Count by Type:
The number of vertical drilling rigs fell by 4 to 543, 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 5 at
1,388. In particular, horizontal rig units - that reached an
all-time high of 1,193 in May this year - increased by 6 from the
last week's level to 1,161.
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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