Counted

The United States added nine land-based rigs along with one in the inland waters and two in the offshore to make for a net U.S. gain of one-dozen rigs, according to Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) in its report for the week ending March 10.

U.S. drilling rigs mostly stayed put during the week ending Friday, according to Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI). The land-based count was even with the previous week; one rig left the inland waters. And that was it. Canada was a different story.

U.S. drilling rig movement was modest during the week ending Friday, according to Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI). Even the Permian Basin was steady at 218 rigs running, the same as last week.

The U.S. land-based oil and natural gas rig count declined by seven in the latest tally, issued Friday, June 5, by Baker Hughes Inc. Three natural gas-directed rigs packed it in while four oil-directed rigs were taken out of service.

The U.S. land-based oil and natural gas rig count declined by seven in the latest tally, issued Friday, June 5, by Baker Hughes Inc. Three natural gas-directed rigs packed it in while four oil-directed rigs were taken out of service.

With the proceeds counted from the sale of its Permian Basin acreage earlier this year, Frisco, TX-based Comstock Resources Inc. is squarely focused on the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas, where it is drilling longer-lateral wells for less money in fewer days and looking for bolt-on acreage acquisitions. The Haynesville Shale will have to wait.

North Dakota continued its torrid pace for month-over-month production increases in oil and natural gas, driven principally by the Bakken Shale play, according to statistics released Wednesday by the state Department of Mineral Resources’ (DMR) Industrial Commission. The latest statistics are as of the end of July.

The physical market was mostly quiet Friday and posted gains of about 2 cents, but that’s only if no one counted the meteoric gains caused by weather at numerous points from the Mid-Atlantic to New England. Futures were tame by comparison and the March contract was only able to carve out a 7-cent range. At the close March was unchanged from Thursday at $2.477, which is only 2.2 cents lower than the contract’s close the previous week.

A move by shale gas operators to use horizontal drilling techniques in liquids plays may be the impetus in setting a new all-time record for horizontal drilling. A total of 943 horizontal rigs were in operation during the week ending Nov. 5, according to statistics compiled by Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI).